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ECLECTIC SCHOOL READINGS 



HISTORICAL 

AND BIOGRAPHICAT. 

NARRATIVES 













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COPYRIGHT DEPOSIT. 



ECLECTIC SCHOOL READINGS 



HISTORICAL AND 



BIOGRAPHICAL NARRATIVES 



BY 

ISABEL R. WALLACH 



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NEW YORK •:• CINCINNATI •:• CHICAGO 
AMERICAN BOOK COMPANY 



LIBRARY of CONGRESS 
Two Copies Received 
MAY 12 1904 

^ Copyright Entry 

^Mr* 1 la - / 1 *f 

CLASS cl~ XXc. No. 
COPY B 






Copyright, 1904, by 
ISABEL R. WALLACH 



Entered, at Stationers'* Hall, London 



Hist, and Biog. Nab. 
w. p. I 



PKEFACE 



This volume of historical and biographical stories is 
offered to young readers as a stepping-stone to history. 
The subjects treated are those named in the syllabus for 
the first half of the fifth school year, in the course of 
study prescribed for the elementary schools of the city of 
New York. Although the work has been prepared to 
meet the needs especially of teachers and pupils in the 
New York schools, yet the author confidently hopes that 
it will prove to be equally valuable elsewhere, and will 
serve its purpose well as an easy and helpful introduction 
to the broad field of general history. 

From the twentieth century of the Christian Era back 
to Cheops is a long vista, and the farthest milestones lie 
buried in the dust of the dead ages. Yet great actions 
live forever, and though many of the earlier pictures in 
Oriental and in European history are veiled in tradition, 
the high motive, the lofty patriotism, the stirring deed, that 
wrought their impress upon the world are still discernible. 

These simple ethics are readily comprehended by children 
and cannot be impressed too early. Their young minds 
absorb the outlines of history with eagerness, but its de- 
tails prove a burden. Hence each subject has been treated 
separately and sketched in the briefest manner. Only the 
salient -points have been mentioned, and these will be 
found focused, as far as possible, upon the ethical lesson in- 
troduced between the lines whenever opportunity to do so 

arose. 

Isabel R. Wallach. 
3 



CONTENTS 



ORIENTAL NATIONS 

Confucius 7 

Gautama, the Buddha . . 9 

Cheops 11 

Eameses II 13 

Sardanapalus 15 

Nebuchadnezzar .... 17 

•Moses 20 

Solomon 23 

Hiram 25 

GREECE 

Jason 28 

Hercules 31 

Homer 33 

Achilles . 36 

Ulysses 38 

Theseus 40 

The Oracle at Delphi . . 43 

The Olympic Games ... 46 

Lycurgus 48 

Solon 51 

Crcesus 53 

Three Glorious Battles . 56 

Socrates . 64 

Alcibiades 06 

Demosthenes 68 

Alexander the Great . . 71 

ROME 

JEneas 74 

Romulus 75 

Cincinnatus 77 

Pyrrhus . . . . . . 80 

Hannibal 82 

Cato ......... 84 



The Gracchi 86 

Julius Cesar ...... 88 

Spartacus 91 

Cicero 93 

Nero , 95 

Pompeii ... .... 97 

CONSTANTINE 100 

MEDIAEVAL EUROPE 

Attila the Hun . . . . 103 

The Nibelungenlied . . . 106 

Clovis 109 

Augustine Ill 

Mohammed 113 

Charles Martel . . . . 115 

Charlemagne 117 

Roland 119 

Peter the Hermit .... 122 

Frederick Barbarossa . . 123 

Rienzi 126 

Edward the Black Prince 128 

Joan of Arc 130 

Marco Polo 134 

Vasco da Gam a . . . . • 135 



MODERN EUROPE 

Galileo 

William the Silent . 
Gustavus Adolphus . 
Peter the Great . 
Frederick the Great 
The French Revolution 
Napoleon Bonaparte 
Giuseppe Garibaldi . 
Louis Kossuth . . . 
Otto Von Bismarck . 



137 
140 
142 
144 
146 
148 
151 
154 
156 
158 



PROPER NAMES 



A -paries 

M ge'an 

M ne'as 

M ne' id 

Ag a mem'non 

Aix 

A'jax 

Al'a ric 

Al'ba Lon'ga 

Al qi bi'a des 

Al ex an'der 

Al ex an'dii a 

Al'lA* 

Al sage 

An-eAi'se§ 

An da lu^si an 

Aii'glo-Sax'on 

An'tl ogJi 

Apol'16 

A ra'bl a 

Ar'abs 

Ar'Is to tie 

Ar'go nawts 

Ar'gos 

Ar'gtis 

A ri ad'ne 

A y sia Ml'nor 

Assh'ur-ban'1 pal 

As syr'I a 

A the'ni an 

Ath'ens 

At lan'tls 

At'tl ca 

At'ti la 

Au ge'an 

Ai/gus tine 



Aws'trl a 

Avignon (a ven'yon) 

Bab'y ion 

Bab'y lo'ni an 

Bar ba ros'sa 

Bas tile' 

Bel'gl lim 

Bls'marek 

Bo he'mi a 

Bor'ne 6 

Bran hll'da 

Buddha (bood'a) 

Bur gun'dl an 

Bur'giin dy 

Cae'sar 

Cai'ro 

Cai'iis 

Cal'I cut 

Ca'naan 

Car' 6 16 Mag'no 

Car 'th age (-thlj) 

Car tha gin'I an 

Ca'to 

Qei/ Ion' 

Cha Ion/ 

phar' le ma^ne 

Che'ops (ke'ops) 

Cie'e ro 

Cm cin na'tus - 

CIS 6'bis 

CIo'yis 

Col'^Ms 

Con fu qi us 

Con'stan tine 

Cor ne'li a 

Cor' si ca 



Cre'qy 

Crete 

Croesus (kre' siis) 

Cy'rus 

Czar 

Da ri'us 

Dai/phm 

Del'phi 

Dom re my 

Du ren'da 

E pi'rus 

Eth'el bert 

Eu phra'tes 

Eu ge'nie 

Fo'rum 

Gal i le'o 

Ga ri bal'di 

Ga?d 

Ga?^'ta ma 

Gen'6 a 

Gm sep'pe 

Gils ta'vus A dol'phus 

Grac'-e/a 

Greg'6 ry 

Han 'ni bal 

He'brews 

Hec'tor 

He gi'ra 

Hel'les pont 

Her'cti leg 

Her'mes 

He rod'6 tus 

Hes'pe rtis 

Hin'du-Kush 

Hin du stan' 

Hi ma'la ya 



PKOPER NAMES 



Hfram 

HoA en zol'lgrn 

Hiin'ga ry 

Hy'dra 

Iliad 

Ilium 

I 6' nl a 

Ish'iD^ 51 

Is'lam 

Is ra el 

Ith'a ca 

Je rir'sa lem 

Jo an 7 of Arc 

Jor'dan 

Josh'tl a 

Ju de'a 

Ju'pi ter 

Ju'll us 

Ka a'ba 

KM'fu 

Ko'ran 

Kossuth (kos sooth') 

Kyf' hat^ sen (-hou-) 

Laq e dse'mon 

Latium (la'shl uni) 

La'tl mis 

La Yin'i a 

Le on'I das 

Lor razne 

Ly cur'gus 

Lyd'i a 

Ly'san der 

Mag e do'nl a 

Mar'a thon 

Mar tel' 

MeVca 

Me de'a 

Me di'na 

MSd 1 ter ra'ne an 

Mex'i co 

Mi'-eftel an'ge lo 

Mil tl'a de§ 



Mi ner'va 

Mln'6 tawr 

Mo ham'med 

Mos'cow 

Mo zam bique' 

Na po'le on 

Neb u c/^ad neY zar 

Nep'ttine 

Neth'er lands 

Nlb'e lung 

Nib'e lung en Ked' 

Nln'e Yeh 

Nu'bl an 

dys'setis 

Od'ys sey 

lym'pi a 

lym'pus 

Or lan'do 

/v. 

Or le ans 
^ — — 

Or'pheiis 

Pal' a tine 

Palmes tine 

Par'the non 

Pa tro'clus 

Pep'In 

Pha'moh 

Phar'sa lus 

Phid'I as 

Phil Ip'pic 

Phoe nic/I a 

Pi'sa 

Poitiers (pwatya/) 

Pom pe/ii 

Pom'pey 

Por'tu gal 

Prl'am 

Pyi'rMs 

Qui rfnus 

Ka me'seg 

Be'miis 

BeieAs'tag 

BAemis 



Ei Sn'zl 

Bom'u lus 

Bon'ges val le§ 

St. He le'na 

Sal'a mis 

Sar'a gens 

Sar da na pa'liib 

Selp'I 6 

Sen'e ca 

Siq'I ly 

Sieg'fned 

Soc'ra te§ 

Sol'6 mon 

Solon 

Spar'ta 

Spar'ta ctis 

Staoft/halt er 

Tartars 

Tar'ta ry 

Ten ton'lc 

Ther mop y lae 

The'setls 

Thetis 

Ti be'rl us 

Tl'tan 

Trajan 

Toi^rs 

Tyre 

TJ lys'ses 

Vas'co da Ga'ma 

Ven'iQe 

Ve'nus 

Ver sailZeg 

Ve su'vl us 

Vlen'na 

Vir'gll 

Vis'i goth 

Vul'can 

Walter loo 

W'o'den 

Xerx'es 

Zeus 



ORIENTAL NATIONS 



CONFUCIUS 

China, 550-478 B. C. 

When" a Chinese boy goes to school for the first 
time, he is told to kneel down and burn an incense 
stick before a tablet fastened to the wall of the class- 
room. Letters cut deeply into the wood show that 
the tablet is sacred to the memory of Kung-Fu-tze, 
(the Great Teacher). The w r estern world speaks of 
him as Confucius, because this form is easier to pro- 
nounce. 

There had been many teachers in China before the 
time of Confucius, but the people had forgotten their 
wise sayings. Confucius gathered the best of these 
into book form, so that every one might read and 
learn them. When he had done this, he traveled 
through the whole country, teaching the people what 
was right and showing them how to become good 
men. 

He 6arefully impressed upon them that a man must 
always respect his parents ; that it was a crime to dis- 
grace them by evil conduct ; and that there could be 
no greater reward for being good than the praise one 

7 



8 



ORIENTAL NATIONS 



could thus earn for father and mother. He told them 
that teachers must be honored next to parents, and 
that the emperor, who is the Great Father, must be 
honored most of all. 

Confucius taught these lessons with such success 
that although he died five hundred years before Christ 




A TEMPLE OF CONFUCIUS IN CHINA. 



was born, the Chinese people believe to this day that 
to do anything in a way different from that in which 
their parents did it, is an insult to their memory. 
This explains why China is to-day as far behind the 
rest of the world as she was ahead of it when Confu- 
cius lived. 



GAUTAMA, THE BUDDHA 9 

But the great teacher also taught his people to do 
nothing to others that they would not have others do 
to them. Unfortunately they did not learn this les- 
son quite so well. If you read it carefully, you will 
see that the lesson they forgot is simply our Golden 
Rule expressed in an inverted form. 

China honored Confucius in his life time, and still 
deeply venerates his memory. She made nobles of 
his descendants, and these keep his tomb in good 
order. In every town a temple has been erected in 
his honor, and in every schoolroom his words of wis- 
dom are taught to the children. 



GAUTAMA, THE BUDDHA 

Hindustan, 562-482 B. C. 

Sloping downward from the snow-crowned Hima- 
laya mountains in Asia, lies a beautiful country called 
Hindustan. For long ages its people have been 
divided into four great classes, called " castes." The 
higher the caste the better off in every way are those 
born into it. Those in the lower castes are very poor, 
and suffer many hardships. They can never hope 
for anything better, because the people believe that 
wherever the Lord puts a man at birth, he must be 
contented to remain. They think that after a man 
dies, he is born into life again under conditions that 
depend upon his conduct during his former life. If 



10 



ORIENTAL NATIONS 



he was good, he is born into the highest caste. If 
he was bad, he is born into the lowest caste. And 
if he was very wicked, he comes into the world 
again in the form of a poisonous insect or an un- 
clean animal. 

Gautama, the son of the king, was of the highest 
caste. His own life was very happy, but it troubled 

him to see others suf- 
fer. The priests taught 
that if a man would 
withdraw from the 
world and starve his 
body, he could become 
as powerful as a god. 
Gautama longed to 
help the suffering peo- 
ple, and, believing the 
priests, determined to 
gain this god-like 
power. So he left his 
home, his young wife 
and beautiful boy, and 
lived for six years in the wilderness, afflicting his 
body until he was almost dead. But he was no 
nearer being a god than before, and, giving up the 
fasting that had been so useless, he spent the next 
year in deep thought. 

Living thus, he learned that any man, whatever 
his caste, could be happy if he would lead a sinless 
life. To do this he must perform the lesser duties of 




A STATUE OF BUDDHA. 



CHEOPS 11 

life as well as the greater ones. He must speak the 
truth and treat others justly. He must be kind in 
word as well as in act, and above all must restrain 
his desire for pleasure, wealth, or revenge. 

Preaching this religion, Gautama gained many fol- 
lowers. These established hospitals for the sick 
poor, and built schools in which to teach the new 
belief. 

Many centuries have gone by since then and evil 
growths have fastened themselves upon Gautama's 
simple laws. We hope these will vanish soon and 
that the people will once more return to the pure 
faith of the Buddha (the enlightened one), who gave 
up wife and child, his home and a kingdom, in order 
to save his fellowmen from sorrow and suffering. 



CHEOPS 

Egypt, not later than 2100 B. C. 

Histoky tells us nothing of Cheops, once king 
over ancient Egypt. Since we cannot speak positively 
about this ruler, nor of his deeds, we shall take a 
look, instead, at the traces still left in Egypt of the 
age in which he lived. The earliest records of Egyp- 
tian history are found carved in the stone walls of 
the temples. The kings erected these to glorify the 
gods, and also to tell future generations of their own 
greatness. 



12 



OEIEKTAL NATIONS 



Sometimes these records were cut upon tall shafts 
of stone called obelisks. One of these obelisks was 
brought to this country not long ago, and it now 
stands in Central Park in New York City. If you 
ever go to see it, you will find that its four sides are 
closely covered with the curious sort of picture-writ- 
ing used by the ancient Egyptians. 




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THE PYRAMID OF CHEOPS. 



Most of these temples and obelisks were placed 
near the Nile River, because this stream was consid- 
ered sacred. On its banks, just beyond the more 
modern city of Cairo, rise a number of buildings 
which, from a distance, look like great triangles pier- 
cing the sky. Coming closer we find them to be of 
pyramid shape, and built up of thousands of carefully 
fitted stones. 

Some of these pyramids have been entered, and 



EAMESES II 13 

great stone coffins have been found inside of them. 
Within these were others of wood, in which lay 
the bodies of kings and queens, placed there thou- 
sands of years ago. Some of these coffins and also 
the mummies, as the dried up dead bodies are called, 
have been sent to different parts of the world and 
placed on exhibition in the great museums. They 
are well worth going to see. 

The largest of these pyramids is called Cheops, be- 
cause that king's Egyptian name, Khufu, is carved 
many times upon its inner walls. History is silent 
about Cheops. But when we look at this magnifi- 
cent tomb which he erected for himself, and think of 
the vast multitude of men who toiled so painfully to 
build it, we know that he must have been rich and 
powerful. 

No doubt he was harsh and cruel to his common 
people. But so were all other kings of his day. 
We shall see, as we study these stories, that it took 
many hundreds of years for monarchs to learn that 
the people they ruled had rights which even kings 
must respect. 



EAMESES II 

Egypt, Fifteenth Century B. C. 

The Egyptians of old were great builders. When 
Rameses II came to rule over them, his father had 
just completed the most wonderful structures the 



14 



ORIENTAL NATIONS 



world has ever seen. At first, Rameses II was busy 
in the East, restoring order amongst his Asiatic sub- 
jects. When he returned, proud of his victories, he 
ordered erected colossal images of him- 
self, some of which are still standing. 

Fearing that after his death the Asi- 
atic people might seek revenge and 
invade Egypt, Rameses determined 
to build a great wall around it and 
to fortify it with many cities that 
should bear his own name. 

This tremendous scheme re- 
quired many millions of bricks, 
for the wall was to be as wide 
across as a road, and higher 
than the houses. There were 
already multitudes of slaves in 
Egypt, but these could not sup- 
ply the bricks fast enough. 
So Rameses II commanded 
that the Israelites, or He- 




brews, who were then in 



STATUE OF RAMESES II. 



Egypt, should be compelled 
to aid in the work. This was unjust, for the Israelites 
were not a race of slaves. Many years before, their 
ancestors had been invited by an earlier king to make 
their home in Egypt. They had dwelt there happily 
ever since, and had been at peace with their neighbors. 
But they had grown to be very numerous, and 
Rameses II hoped that, by reducing them to slavery, 



SAKD ASAP ALUS 15 

he had found an admirable method of thinning their 
numbers. 

When the Israelites protested against his injustice, 
he grew harsher and more cruel and, finally, he 
angrily ordered that all their boy babies should be 
put to death. 

The Bible speaks of this wicked king and calls 
him Pharaoh. But the word Pharaoh is not a name ; 
it merely means a ruler of Egypt. 

The wall that Rameses II built to protect his 
country from invasion fell in ruins, and the proud 
cities that were to make his name immortal disap- 
peared. Three of his gigantic statues, however, still 
sit gazing silently out across the Nubian sands, re- 
vealing to modern eyes the features of this great 
monarch of the ancient world, whose power ex- 
tended over the known parts of both Africa and 
Asia. 



SARDANAPALUS 

Assyria, about 687-626 B. C. 

The great Avail of Rameses II failed to protect 
Egypt for all time from her Asiatic foes. These 
grew stronger as the centuries passed, and by the 
time Sardanapalus became king over Assyria, the 
Egyptian nation had been badly defeated by them. 
Assyria was at this period the most powerful empire 
in the world. She had conquered all the surrounding 



16 



ORIENTAL NATIONS 



kingdoms, and had forced them to pay her an annual 
tribute of gold and of young men. 

With treasures and with slaves so plentiful, Sarda- 
napalus was free to indulge every wish. He had a 
natural taste for art and literature, and found delight 
in erecting fine buildings and in ornamenting his cap- 
ital city of Nineveh with beautiful palaces. 

He built a great library and stored it with a vast 
number of books. These were not at all like the 

books which we use, but they 
served the same purpose. They 
were merely pieces of clay, 
some in tablet form, others 
like cylinders, and the words 
were either pressed into them 
with a seal, or cut in with a 
small instrument, while the 
clay was still moist. Then 
they were baked in ovens so 
that they became proof against 
both fire and water. 

The library building was de- 
stroyed ages ago, but thou- 
sands of its books have been 
discovered, many of them as good as new. There 
are schoolbooks among them, and grammars and 
dictionaries. There are books with the records of 
mercantile transactions, and others with hymns that 
bear a striking resemblance to those of David. 

People who know how to read the strange writing 




A CLAY TABLET. 



NEBUCHADNEZZAR 17 

have gathered from the cylinders and tablets the 
complete history of the wars of Sardanapalus, and of 
those waged by his ancestors. 

From these records we learn that the real name of 
this splendid Assyrian king was Asshur-bani-pal. The 
Greek writers called him Sardanapalus, and they tell 
us that he cared only to pursue pleasure. It may 
have seemed so to them. But while it is true that his 
ancestors conquered all the enemies of Assyria, these 
would very quickly have regained their independence 
had not Sardanapalus been strong enough to keep 
them in subjection. 

It is true that splendor, such as we read of in the 
Arabian Nights, ruled in the court of this dazzling 
monarch. But he was powerful enough to force 
kings to do his bidding, and if his successors had pos- 
sessed only a shadow of his ability, mighty Assyria 
would not have been destroyed almost immediately 
after his death. 



NEBUCHADNEZZAR 

Babylon, 625-561 B. C. 

When Sardanapalus died, the nations that had 
been paying him tribute revolted, one after the 
other. Finally, uniting their armies, they overthrew 
the Assyrian empire and divided its territory among 
themselves. Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon, thus 
became master of all the country that lay west of the 



18 



ORIENTAL NATIONS 



Euphrates River. Egypt tried to set herself free, 
but failed, and was cruelly punished. Phoenicia 
and Judea, small states that bordered on the Mediter- 
ranean Sea, also sought to regain their independence, 
but they were quickly subdued. 

Nebuchadnezzar exacted the customary heavy 
tribute from Phoenicia and also a safe passage to 
the sea for the Babylonian caravans. He punished 
Judea, the country of the Jews, or Israelites, in a 
different manner, and the method he chose proved 
him a shrewd statesman as well as a great king. 







THE KING'S PALACE AT BABYLON. 



Babylon, the capital of his empire, was a city of 
traders. The Jews were good farmers, and many 
skillful workmen dwelt in their cities. Nebuchad- 
nezzar saw that men like these could teach his nation 
some valuable lessons. So when he returned to 
Babylon he carried back with him not only the 
king of the Jews and their treasure, according to 
custom, but also the priests, the best workmen, and 



NEBUCHADNEZZAR 19 

the most successful farmers, together with their wives 
and little ones. This forcible removal of the flower 
of the Jewish nation is spoken of in the Bible as 
the " Captivity." 

The city of Babylon was even more magnificent 
than that of Nineveh, the Assyrian capital. It was 
large enough to hold fifty of our largest cities. The 
royal palace was seven miles around, and its temple 
to the god Bel was the highest building in the world. 
All the dwelling-houses were built of brick, four 
stories in height. Walls three hundred feet high 
and eighty feet thick protected the city from attack. 
Wonderful water-works supplied the inhabitants with 
pure drinking water that no beleaguering enemy 
could cut off. Within the walls were farms extensive 
enough to supply grain for the enormous population 
in case of siege. 

But the king was equally careful of the people 
who lived in the country. He built great reservoirs 
to hold the spring flood water in check, and to save 
it until needed in time of drought. This water 
could also be used, if danger threatened, to drown 
out hostile invaders. 

Like all the Eastern monarchs, Nebuchadnezzar 
carefully stamped his own praises upon every brick 
his builders used. But though we smile at his 
vanity, we must honor his memory, because he was 
the first king to consider the welfare of the common 
people. 



20 ORIENTAL NATIONS 



MOSES 

The Hebrews, Fifteenth Century B. C. 

In the dark days when Rameses of Egypt com- 
manded that the boy babies of the Hebrews, or Israel- 
ites, should be put to death, one unhappy mother hid 
her child in a basket and set it afloat upon the Nile 
River. You know the Bible story: how Pharaoh's 
daughter saved him, and how his sister, being sent 
to get a nurse, brought her mother ; how the princess 
took him to live at court, where he was treated like a 
prince; how the mother managed to tell him the 
secret of his birth, and taught him to pray to the 
true God. 

Later, when he was grown, he killed an Egyptian 
whom he saw cruelly beating a Hebrew. This was 
a crime, even for a prince, and Moses fled into the 
desert. 

When Rameses died, Moses returned to Egypt, 
and, obeying God's command, boldly asked the new 
Pharaoh to let the Hebrews depart from Egypt, free 
as they had entered it. The Pharaoh haughtily re- 
fused and laughed, when Moses warned him to beware 
the anger of the God of the Israelites. 

Presently one plague after another fell upon the 
land ; and there came a night when every first born 
son lay dead in every Egyptian home, even within 
the royal palace. And then the terrified king sent 



MOSES 



21 




STATUE OF MOSES, BY MICHELANGELO. 



22 ORIENTAL NATIONS 

hurriedly to Moses and ordered the Hebrews to de- 
part on the instant. 

Six hundred thousand people, men, women, and 
children, set forth at midnight upon that memorable 
exodus, not one knowing whither they were going. 

Hardly were they gone when the Pharaoh, chang- 
ing his mind, sent an army to bring them back. But 
the Hebrews, escaping from the soldiers, crossed the 
Red Sea at a spot made shallow by a strong wind. 
Under the guidance of Moses they then marched 
through a desert country, in order to avoid attack, on 
their way back to the land which the Lord had prom- 
ised to their ancestor Abraham, many years before. 

Moses gave them Ten Commandments to guide 
their conduct, and for years he vainly sought to 
make them live according to these laws. At last he 
saw that slavery had unfitted his people for self-gov- 
ernment, and that the founders of a nation must 
needs be free-born men. It was a sad discovery. 
He had hoped to guide the Israelites into the Promised 
Land. But he was already old, and to await the 
growth of a new generation meant that another than 
he would be their leader. 

At last he beheld from afar the green fields of 
Canaan, and the blue waters of the Jordan River. 
Spread out before him was the Promised Land ! All 
around him, straight and strong, stood free-born men 
of his race, with the young Joshua towering in their 
midst. Surely this man was the new leader appointed 
of the Lord. 



SOLOMON 23 

Gently now he urged upon the Hebrews to serve 
only the Lord and to keep the Ten Commandments. 
Then he turned away and passed forever from the 
eyes of those whom he had led into freedom, and to 
the threshold of their inheritance. 



SOLOMON 

The Hebrews, 1033-975 B. C. 

Moses had divided the Hebrews into tribes whilst 
they were on the march to the Promised Land, or 
Palestine, as it is called in your geography. Their 
ancestor Jacob had been the father of twelve sons, 
and each tribe included all the families descended 
from the same son. When the Hebrews invaded 
Palestine they drove out its inhabitants. Each tribe 
chose a tract of land for its own and dwelt upon it. 
Gradually each formed a separate state, governing 
itself, but uniting with the others for common 
defense. After a while these states became a king- 
dom, firmly established and prosperous. 

When Solomon became king, he reigned wisely and 
well. He became friendly with the surrounding na- 
tions and sought to strengthen his kingdom in every 
way. 

He built a great fortress to protect Jerusalem, his 
capital city, and in the center of the fortifications he 
erected a temple to God. Since the Hebrews under- 



24 



ORIENTAL NATIONS 



stood very little of architecture, Solomon borrowed 
workmen of Hiram, a king of Phoenicia, whose coun- 
try was famous for its skillful artisans. 

For seven years the Phoenicians and the Hebrews 
worked side by side constructing the great temple. 
The people gave gladly of their wealth to ornament 
it, and its walls were overlaid with gold. The 
interior was hung with fine draperies and the altar 




THE TEMPLE AT JERUSALEM. 



was furnished with magnificent vessels and candle- 
sticks of gold and of silver. 

Solomon dedicated the great temple to the Lord 
with much pomp, and all the nation rejoiced. It was 
a proud moment for the king and for his people, but 
unfortunately it marked the height of their power. 

Presently the wise king began to act foolishly. 
He made a great display of his wealth, and gave 



HIKAM 25 

himself up to the pleasures of an Eastern monarch, 
forgetful that a king has duties which he dares not 
neglect. The people at his court followed his ex- 
travagant example, and even opj)ressed the poor in 
order to gain more wealth and purchase greater 
pleasures. The tribes then began to quarrel with 
one another, and drew farther and farther apart. 

The closing years of Solomon's brilliant reign were 
dark and troubled. His own sons rebelled against 
his government, and civil war burst forth within his 
kingdom. Unhappy, overwhelmed with grief, and 
a marked contrast to the splendid king who in the 
beginning had ruled so wisely, Solomon passed away, 
and at his death the Hebrew kingdom fell apart. 



HIRAM 

Phoenicia, Eleventh Century B. C. 

Hiram was king of Tyre, a powerful and wealthy 
city of Phoenicia. Phoenicia consisted merely of a 
narrow strip of sea-coast. From the earliest times 
her people had been successful boat-builders and 
mariners. They had no compass, yet they sailed out 
through the Mediterranean Sea into the stormy At- 
lantic. They sailed past Spain, past England, and 
northward into the Baltic, trading with the savages, 
and bartering their brilliantly dyed cloth for tin and 
amber and gold. 



26 ORIENTAL NATIONS , 

Caravans from India brought to their doors goods 
which Egypt and Greece were glad to buy. What 
they did not export, their skillful workmen converted 
into goods that brought a far higher price. 

Now, where commerce and manufacture are carried 
on, accounts must be kept and records made in some 
shorter and more accurate form than picture-writing. 
So these clever people made use of alphabetic writ- 
ing, and taught the art to the Greeks with whom 
they traded. 

When Hiram ascended the throne, his little country 
was already famous throughout the nations, near and 
far, for its wonderful metal work, its beautiful jew- 
elry, its vessels of glass, its fine textiles and gorgeous 
dyes. The new king was not ambitious to conquer 
territory or to glorify his own name. He was very 
proud of his workmen, and for their sake strove to 
live at peace with his neighbors. So when Solomon, 
king of the Hebrews, asked him to help build the 
great temple at Jerusalem, offering oil and grain in 
exchange, Hiram willingly agreed to send him com- 
petent workers in wood and stone, in metal and in 
cloth. 

Without confusion the great structure rose upon 
the summit of its hill foundation. Its stones were 
laid without cement and squared perfectly. The 
immense brass basin that held 17,000 gallons was 
cast in one piece, a feat few of our modern metal- 
workers would care to undertake. The vessels of 
gold and the great candlesticks w^ere so wonderfully 



HIEAM 



27 



wrought that they were the admiration of Rome 
when, many centuries later, they were carried thither 
in triumph. 

With workmen like these at his command, Hiram 
beautified his own cities, deepened their harbors, and 




THE SEVEN GOLDEN CANDLESTICKS, FROM THE 
TEMPLE AT JERUSALEM. 

fortified them from attack by land and sea. He was 
careful of his kingdom's interests in every direction. 
He policed the highways so well that no robber dared 
waylay a caravan, coming or going, with its rich bur- 
dens. He forbade human sacrifices to the god Baal, 
and compelled the people to offer up sheep and kids 
instead, after the custom of their neighbors, the He- 
brews. There was little of the indolence of an East- 
ern ruler in busy Hiram, and though he lived so long 
ago, he showed qualities which modern kings would 
do well to imitate. 



GREECE 

JASON 

Prehistoric Times 

Okce upon a time, a certain king in Greece grew 
tired of ruling his people. So he asked his brother 
to take the throne and keep it until the little prince 
Jason should be old enough to wear a crown. The 
brother was quite willing, but when Jason grew up 
and laid claim to the kingdom, his uncle persuaded 
him to go first in quest of the Golden Fleece which 
the gods had given to his people, but which was 
now in a distant place called Colchis, guarded by a 
dragon that never slept. 

Jason was delighted with the idea, and he invited 
Hercules, and Orpheus, and Theseus, and many other 
young men to go with him. 

Great stir and excitement attended the prepara- 
tions made for the great adventure. The boats that 
the people used at that time were simply tree-trunks 
hollowed out and shaped to cut the water. But for 
a voyage like this, these would not do. So a genius 
named Argus set to work and built a ship big enough 
to carry fifty men. This was considered perfectly 

28 



JASON 



29 




JASON AND THE DRAGON, 



30 GKEECE 

wonderful, and Jason was so delighted with it that 
he named it the Argo, after its builder. The young 
men called themselves " Argonauts." 

And what a time there was when the young 
heroes set forth ! The people gathered on the shore, 
and there were wild cheers, and hand-shakings, and 
prayers, and good wishes, and women's tears, of 
course. All eyes watched the Argo as she sailed 
away, growing smaller and smaller, and vanishing at 
last over the edge of the wide, blue sea. Would 
they ever come back? 

The Argonauts had many adventures, but finally 
reached Colchis in safety. Its king promised to give 
Jason the Fleece if, in return, he would tame some 
fiery bulls for him and sow some dragon's teeth in a 
field. These tasks were harder than you think, and 
Jason went to Medea, the king's daughter, and 
promised to marry hex if she would help him. She 
agreed, and being very clever, gave him a charm that 
would subdue the fire-breathing bulls ; another to get 
rid of the frightful harvest that would grow up when 
he planted the dragon's teeth; and a third to put 
the old dragon to sleep that guarded the Golden 
Fleece. 

Using all these, Jason completed the tasks, and 
seizing the Golden Fleece, hastily boarded the Argo, 
and with Medea and his heroes sailed away before 
the king could stop him. 

There was great rejoicing when Jason's people 
beheld the returning Argo, Every one was glad 



HERCULES 



31 



except, perhaps, the uncle who now had to give up 
the crown. But perhaps he-, too, was glad. Who 
knows but that in sending Jason away on that great 
adventure he had meant only to test the young man's 
courage, and to show the people that he was really 
fit to rule them ? 



HERCULES 

According to the legends of old, Hercules was a 
son of Jupiter, the most powerful of all the gods. 
Juno, the queen of heaven, hated him and placed 
him in the power of a man who commanded him to 
perform twelve gigantic 
tasks. In the first, he 
slew a terrible lion, stran- 
gling it with his bare 
hands. You can see its 
skin hung over his shoul- 
ders in all his pictures. 

A harder task was his 
victory over the Hydra 
which used to devour 
the loveliest maidens in 
Argos. This dreadful monster had nine heads. One 
of these could not be killed at all ; and whenever one 
of the others was cut off, two new ones immediately 
grew in its place. 

Seeing that his great strength could not help him 




HERCULES AND THE LION. 



32 GREECE 

here, Hercules set his wits to work. He burned off 
the eight heads with fire, and then, while the awful 
creature was doing its best to put out the flames, he 
buried the ninth one under a rock so enormous that 
the Hydra was unable to move it. 

Another task was to steal three golden apples which 
belonged to Juno, and were guarded by the daugh- 
ters of Hesperus. Hesperus was the Evening Star, 
who dwelt in the crimson west where the sun goes 
down. Hercules knew very well that no mortal 
might hope to reach a spot which seemed to go ever 
farther away as one approached it. Only a Titan 
whose single stride covered the whole earth could do 
that sort of thing. So he went to Atlas, who bore the 
earth on his shoulders, and offered to hold it for him 
while the mighty fellow went after the apples. 

Now Atlas had grown pretty tired of his burden 
and, in his stupid way, thought he saw a chance to 
get rid of it forever. Here was some one strong 
enough to hold up the earth, why not let him keep 
it always ? 

So the Titan strode off, and came back in no time 
with the apples in his hand, so eager was he to show 
Hercules how cleverly he had tricked him. Now 
Hercules saw very clearly what the giant meant to 
do, and when Atlas flatly refused to take the earth 
back, he pretended to feel very badly. Then he 
begged the big Titan to hold it just a moment, while 
he went to get a cushion for his shoulders. 

Atlas consented good-naturedly, but Hercules, 



HOMEE 33 



snatching the apples, sped away and out of sight, 
almost before the other knew what had happened. 

When Hercules was sent to clean out the Augean 
stable, instead of doing the unpleasant work himself, 
he turned two big rivers through it, whose waters, 
rushing in, washed it clean in a single night. 

People nowadays call the story of the twelve 
labors of Hercules a pretty fable. It may be so. 
But behind it, shining out through the mist of ages, 
you and I can see a noble hero freeing his people of 
their burdens, using his great strength for them, and 
when this was not enough, calling native wit and 
inventive genius to help him achieve success. 



HOMER 

Ninth Century B. C. 

Long ago under the sunny skies of Greece, an old 
man wandered from town to town, bearing a staff in 
his hand and a harp across his shoulders. His hair 
and flowing beard were white as the snow upon the 
mountain tops. A gentle smile played about his sad 
mouth, and his vacant eyes roamed idly over the 
beautiful earth he could nevermore behold. 

This man was Homer, and wherever he w^ent a warm 
welcome awaited him. The people gathered joyfully 
around him, for he sang to them of the stirring deeds 
of the old Greek heroes. Other musicians less gifted 

HIST. NaE. 3 



34 



GREECE 




HOMER. 



than Homer learned by heart the words that fell from 
his inspired lips. After Homer died, they repeated 
them to the people and taught them to their sons. 
These, in turn, recited them in the market places and 



HOMER 35 

taught them to others. Later when the Greeks 
learned the alphabet from the Phoenician traders, they 
put Homer's songs in writing, and in this way pre- 
served them for all the world. 

The beauty of Homer's word pictures, the charm of 
his simple language, have never been surpassed. 
They have made his name as immortal as he made 
the brave heroes and beautiful women of whom he 
sang. 

Homers work that has come down to us comprises 
two great poems, the Iliad and the Odyssey. The 
Iliad, (so called from Ilium, the Greek name for 
Troy), tells the story of the Trojan War and its many 
deeds of bravery. The Odyssey is an account of the 
wanderings of Ulysses (or Odysseus, as he was called 
by the Greeks), of the w r onderful adventures that 
befell him, and of the strange manner of his home- 
coming. 

Both poems are full of vivid scenes of life among 
the ancient Greeks. We read of thrilling single com- 
bats and of brilliant battles, of noble sacrifices and of 
dark deeds of treachery. And ever, amid the clash of 
arms and the wild rush of chariots, there runs the 
golden thread of manly friendship and woman's 
love. 

Homer's work is a masterpiece of literature. For 
long centuries it bound all Greece in one great broth- 
erhood, and spurred her sons onward to emulate the 
lofty courage of their national heroes. 



36 GEEECE 



ACHILLES 

Prehistoric Times 

Achilles is the chief hero of the Iliad. He was 
the son of Thetis, a sea-goddess, who, knowing that he 
would be slain in the Trojan War, did her best to pre- 
vent him from taking part in it. 

When Agamemnon, the over-lord of Greece, pre- 
pared to besiege Troy, he sent a call for help to all 
the heroes of Greece. Thetis disguised Achilles as 
a maiden and carried him to an island in the -ZEgean 
Sea, to live there with the king's daughters. But 
the wise Ulysses recognized him and soon induced 
him to join the expedition. Accompanied by his 
friend Patroclus, Achilles sailed for Troy with a fleet 
of fifty ships, each manned with fifty warriors. 

After fighting valiantly before Troy for nine years, 
Achilles and Agamemnon had a bitter quarrel. 
Achilles, feeling himself ill-treated in return for the 
glorious service he had rendered, determined to de- 
part for home, together with all his men and ships. 
But the other heroes urged him to do nothing hastily, 
and to accept the reparation Agamemnon agreed to 
offer. Achilles, however, refused to be reconciled. 
He remained within his tent, and declared he would 
neither draw a sword nor cast a spear for the ungrate- 
ful Agamemnon, unless the Trojans should drive the 
Greeks to their ships and attempt to fire them. 



ACHILLES 



37 



Deprived of the strong arm of Achilles and of his 
skillful leadership, the Greeks suffered heavy loss. 
In vain they implored Achilles to come forth and stay 
the Trojan advance. Not until his beloved Patroclus 
had been slain by Hector, the son of Priam king of 
Troy, did the angry hero yield. 

Clad in shining armor, newly wrought for him by 
Vulcan, the armorer of the gods, and driving his splen- 




A GREEK WAR CHARIOT. 



did two-horsed chariot, Achilles spread terror among 
the victorious Trojans and quickly drove them back. 
He sought out Hector and slew him with a mighty 
blow. Then, to avenge Patroclus, he dragged brave 
Hector's body, stripped of its arms, back and forth 
before the Trojan wall, and twice around the funeral 
pile where lay the body of his friend. 

Great was the grief in Troy when Hector fell. His 



38 GREECE 

aged father, Priam the king, came forth and weep- 
ing made his way to the tent of Achilles. Bearing 
rich gifts to the victor, he pleaded for the body of 
his dead son and for a truce of twelve days, that he 
might give him fitting burial. Full of pity for the 
old man whose son he had slain, Achilles granted his 
request. 

Here ends the story of the Iliad. In the Odyssey 
we read of the death of Achilles, treacherously slain 
with a poisoned arrow, not long after the truce had 
expired. 

Achilles was a great warrior, brave and noble, gen- 
erous to those he loved, and quick to avenge a wrong. 
It is said that Homer sought to personify in the char- 
acter of Achilles the highest traits of the ancient 
Greeks. However this may be, it is certain that for 
many centuries, his great hero was upheld as a model 
to the youth of all Greece. 



ULYSSES 

Prehistoric Times 

After the death of the great Achilles his sorrow- 
ing mother offered his armor as a prize to the most 
deserving among the Greeks. Ajax, second only to 
Achilles himself in warlike skill, and Ulysses con- 
tended for it. Ajax was renowned for his valor; 
Ulysses was noted for his wisdom and sagacity. The 



ULYSSES 



39 



Greeks decided in favor of Ulysses, thus showing 
the value they placed upon wisdom. 

Ulysses was clever of speech and quick with strata- 
gem, but he was brave also. Once, surrounded by 
many Trojans, his wisdom counseled him to flee ; 
but he remained and fought with great courage, 
saying : " 'Tis only the coward who draweth back 
from war; the brave man standeth, whether he 
smite or be smitten." 

After the fall of Troy the Greek heroes departed 
for home. We read of their wanderings in the 



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ULYSSES. 



Odyssey, the poem in which Homer narrates the 
romantic exploits of Ulysses. 

The poem relates that Ulysses, having sailed for his 
home in Ithaca, was driven by unfavorable winds far 
out of his course. Meeting shipwreck, he was sepa- 
rated from his companions, and wandered far, lost 
along strange coasts. He saw many wonderful things, 



40 GREECE 

and encountered marvelous adventures. But at last, 
with the help of Minerva, the Goddess of Wisdom, 
he reached his home. The story of how he revealed 
himself to his wife is very interesting, but too long to 
tell you here. 

The Odyssey is full of what you might call fairy 
tales. They have been translated from the Greek in- 
to English, and it would be well for you to read them. 

The wonderful adventures of Ulysses are fabulous, 
of course. Very probably they were based upon the 
strange tales the earliest Greek sailors told, of the 
perils that had threatened them, and the marvels 
they had beheld in foreign lands. 

If, as many claim, Achilles stands for the highest 
type of the ancient Greeks, then Ulysses, brave but 
cautious, fond of adventure but prudent, may be said 
to represent the character of the race itself. 



THESEUS 

Prehistoric Times 

The story of Theseus is a curious mixture of 
legend and of history. He was the son of a king 
of Athens, but he grew to manhood in his mother's 
country. When he was at last old enough to join 
his father, he journeyed to Athens. His mother 
urged him to go by sea, because it was safer, but the 
young Theseus determined to go by land, in order tQ 



THESEUS 



41 




THESEUS AND THE MINOTAUR. 



42 GREECE 

meet and punish some wicked men who robbed and 
ill-treated travelers. 

He met with success, because he was brave and 
daring, but when he reached Athens he saw only 
sorrow and weeping instead of the gay welcome he 
had expected. 

He soon discovered the reason. He had come in 
that sad season when Athens was sending its annual 
tribute of seven youths and seven maidens to the king 
of Crete, who fed them to his Minotaur, a terrible 
monster, half bull and half man. 

Theseus made up his mind to deliver his country 
from so distressing a burden. He volunteered to go 
to Crete as a victim, and willingly embarked upon 
the black-sailed vessel that bore away the human 
tribute. 

When he arrived in Crete, Theseus induced 
Ariadne, the king's beautiful daughter, to help him. 
She gave him a magic sword that would kill the 
Minotaur, and also a ball of twine. This second gift 
showed her cleverness. The monster was kept in a 
labyrinth, where the paths were so twisted and the 
shrubbery so thick, that no one who entered it ever 
found his way out. But Ariadne told Theseus to tie 
one end of the string to a tree as he entered the 
labyrinth, and then to put the ball in his pocket. 
When he wanted to return, all he had to do was to 
take the ball out of his pocket and wind it up again, 
following every turn into which the string led him. 

After slaying the Minotaur, Theseus returned to 



THE OKACLE AT DELPHI 43 

Athens. He had promised his father that he would 
change the black sails on the ship to white ones, if 
he should be successful. But he forgot about this 
arrangement, and when the aged king saw the ship 
returning with its black sails, he believed his son 
dead and put an end to his own life. 

Theseus was now king, and many are the bold 
deeds he undertook and the victories he won for 
Athens. 

History tells us he united the tribes of Attica into 
one nation, with Athens as its capital. This added 
greatly to the strength of his kingdom ; and to com- 
memorate the union he established a great annual 
festival in honor of Minerva, the special goddess of 
Athens. This consisted of games and a procession 
in which all joined, men and women, old and young, 
rich and poor, and it continued to be celebrated 
throughout the centuries, until Athens itself was 
overthrown. 



THE ORACLE AT DELPHI 

The Oracle at Delphi had its beginning too far 
back in history to assign the date with exactness. In 
that early age the Greeks believed that a great family 
of gods and goddesses, who dwelt on the summit of 
Mount Olympus, controlled all things on earth and 
in heaven. Not knowing God as we do, they im- 
agined that visible forces like the sea and the fruit- 



44 



GREECE 



ful earth, fire, the wind, and the sun were gods. 
When they needed help, or sought to avert troubles, 
they prayed to these gods under different names, and 
offered them sacrifices. 

There were a number of separate states in Greece 
and these had special gods. Those who worshiped 
the same gods used to meet in some particular place, 




PRESENT APPEARANCE OF DELPHI. 



year after year, and sacrifice together at the temple 
they had built there. Twelve of these states wor- 
shiped Apollo, the sun-god. These met at a place 
called Delphi, and sacrificed at an altar whose per- 
petual flame, it was said, had been kindled by the 
great god himself. 

From a deep cleft in the mountain side there issued 



THE ORACLE AT DELPHI 45 

now and then mysterious whispers. These were - mes- 
sages, the high priestess said, sent by Apollo to guide 
his people and to answer their prayers. Many men 
and women served in the temple and guarded its 
sacred fire. They came from the noblest families 
and were held in high honor. 

The unceasing stream of pilgrims that visited the 
holy temple kept them in touch w r ith the world 
outside, and being wise and well educated, they were 
usually able to answer the people's questions with 
accuracy. When in doubt their reply was worded so 
cleverly that the questioner could read it in quite 
opposite ways. 

The answer of the Oracle, as it was called, was 
always given in verse, and it exerted a powerful influ- 
ence upon the people. The Oracle decided disputes, 
public or private ; it directed matters of state ; and 
it declared for peace or war. 

As the centuries went by, the temptation to accept 
the bribes of the wealthy grew very strong. Often 
the priestess yielded and uttered oracles meant to 
please the questioner, instead of those that wisdom 
and justice dictated, as of old. Gradually the great 
Oracle lost the people's confidence, and finally it dis- 
graced itself forever by predicting victory for the 
Persians during their last war with Greece. 

But sooner or later its end must have come, for 
the people, at that time the most highly cultured in 
all the world, had wholly outgrown their childish 
religion. 



46 GEEECE 



THE OLYMPIC GAMES 

776 B. C.-394 A. 1). 

There was another center in Greece, besides 
Delphi, where the people gathered at stated periods. 
This was Olympia, an ideally beautiful valley in the 
western part of the country. At first it was a 
religious meeting place like Delphi ; but its fame and 
popularity arose from the great festivals or celebra- 
tions that were afterwards established there. These 
took place in midsummer, every fourth year, and 
attracted throngs of people from every part of Greece. 

The Olympic games as these celebrations are 
called, lasted five days. They consisted of religious 
exercises and contests in mental as well as in physi- 
cal superiority. The prize that was awarded was 
simply a crown of wild olive ; but the highest honors 
were showered upon the victor, and he was renowned 
above all other men. The entire nation applauded 
him, and his statue was erected in the sacred grove 
by the side of those of gods and heroes. 

For ten long centuries the Olympic Games served 
to link all Greeks in a common brotherhood. In the 
lovely Olympian valley, foes forgot their anger and 
met as friends. Quarrels were not permitted, for the 
Spartans, who had charge of the celebrations, guarded 
most jealously the sacred truce of a month that 
enabled the people to go back and forth in safety. 



THE OLYMPIC GAMES 4, 

In the beginning the games were intended merely 
as a test of physical endurance. Gradually they came 
to embrace a long and varied programme. Poems 
were recited and histories declaimed. There were 
contests in quoit-throwing and in the use of weapons. 
There were foot races and wrestling matches. And 




INTERIOR OF THE TEMPLE OF JUPITER AT OLYMPIA. 

in the hippodrome there were horse races, and also 
chariot races. 

The rules that governed the celebrations were 
strictly enforced and fairness prevailed in the judg- 
ments rendered. 

The widespread interest in the games and the 
glory that awaited the victor, show us how deep was 



48 GREECE 

the national wish to develop both the body and the 
mind to the utmost, 

The finest temple of the ancient world stood in 
Olympus. It was splendidly ornamented, and adorned 
with statues more beautiful than any that our modern 
sculptors have produced. Within the temple itself 
was that Wonder of the World, the colossal statue of 
Zeus (Jupiter) . Carved of tinted ivory and gold, and 
heavily incrusted with precious stones, it towered 
sixty feet in air. It was the work of Phidias, the 
greatest sculptor that ever lived, and the majesty and 
power the artist gave to the lordly figure were 
inspired by Homer's beautiful word picture of Zeus, 
the Thunderer, king of gods and of men. 



LYCURGUS 

884-820 B. C. 

Whex people live near together they are likely to 
quarrel and make trouble generally, unless they are 
bound by certain laws which all must obey. These 
laws may sometimes seem hard, but if they secure 
the greatest good to the greatest number, they are 
wise laws. 

We have seen how Moses gave the tribes of wan- 
dering Hebrews the Ten Commandments to guide 
their conduct. No doubt there were other lawgivers 
in other countries, but the first that history tells its 



LYCURGUS 49 

about after Moses, is Lycurgus of Sparta, a small 
state in Greece. 

His laws were very much harsher than those of 
Moses and very different. No other country ever 
cared to copy them. Yet under their influence, the 
half-savage Spartans became a hardy race, intensely 
patriotic, fearless in danger, and intrepid in w r ar. 
They despised wealth and whatever it could buy; 
they hated ease, and rich food, and fine clothing. 
And they were so pious that they permitted nothing, 
not even war and its promise of glory, to interfere 
with their religious ceremonies. 

Lycurgus had traveled through many countries and 
studied the conditions w r herever he went. He longed 
to make Sparta greater than any other nation in the 
world, and therefore he invented for her an entirely 
new form of government. Before giving it to his 
people he went to Delphi and piously implored Apollo 
for guidance. The Oracle approved his laws and he 
hastened to Sparta, where he explained them and 
showed how thev would benefit the state. Harsh as 
they were, the people adopted them willingly. 

Henceforth the Spartans lived together in one 
great family whose sole aim was the good of the 
state. Meals were provided by the government, and 
king and plowman ate, side by side, of the same 
coarse food to which each had contributed his share. 
At seven years of age the Spartan boys were taken 
from home and cared for by the state. Their school- 
ing was very severe ; it was strictly military, and 



50 



GREECE 



cowardice and disobedience to orders were considered 
the blackest of crimes. 

When Lycurgus saw r the good his laws had wrought, 
he sought anxiously for some way to make them 
binding for all time. He called the people together 
and, announcing that he was going to Delphi to con- 
sult the Oracle on their behalf, he made them sw r ear 
to obey his laws until he should return. 




RACE COURSE AT SPARTA. 



At Delphi the Oracle told him that his laws were 
the best in the world, and that Sparta would be 
famous as long as her people obeyed them. Lycurgus 
sent this message from Apollo back to Sparta. For 
himself, he saw that nothing now remained but death. 

Had not the Oracle spoken ? He knew very well 
that he could trust his Spartans to keep their compact 
with him. What was simpler than by never return- 
ing, to secure undying fame for his beloved Sparta ? 



SOLON 51 

So, without saying farewell to anyone, the noble 
Lycurgus disappeared in the gloomy mountains, and 
died there of starvation and exposure. His self-sac- 
rifice was not in vain. His people kept their word 
with the lofty patriot, and for many centuries the 
Sparta of Lycurgus was the foremost state in Greece. 



SOLON 

638-558 B. C. 

In the course of time the twelve little states that 
met every year to worship at Delphi became one com- 
monwealth. Its capital was Athens, a city where 
poets, painters, and sculptors were highly honored. 
Athletic contests were encouraged and the young men 
trained to war. It was a beautiful city, but the 
mass of the people suffered many privations. The 
nobles, having all possible privileges, grew ever richer 
and more powerful. The taxes pressed heavily upon 
the poor and their lot became harder day by day. 
Those who could not pay their debts were constantly 
being sold as slaves, often to distant countries. 

Solon, an Athenian who had traveled far and seen 
much, determined to better the condition of the peo- 
ple. He made the state come to the aid of the poor, 
and secured new laws that made it a crime to sell an 
Athenian into slavery, or even to seize his person for 
debt, 



52 



GKEECE 




CECESUS 53 

Their personal liberty being assured, the people 
now clamored for a share in the privileges of the 
nobles. Why should not every born Athenian have 
the same rights as any other ? 

This is the grand democratic idea that rules in the 
United States. But at that time Solon, who was a 
wise man, saw that the people were not fit for self- 
government, and that such a law would lead to end- 
less trouble. So he gave them, instead, a Council of 
Four Hundred, to be elected by the people to transact 
all public business. He also rearranged the taxes, 
making every rich man pay according to his means, 
the poor to be free from taxation. He drew up new 
criminal laws, and also laws to regulate business and 
the education of children. 

Solon's laws were by no means perfect, but they 
guaranteed the liberties of the Athenians and, later 
in the world's history, became the cornerstone of 
national liberty w T herever the common people were 
brave enough to demand a voice in the government. 



CRCESUS 

Sixth Century B. C. 

"As rich as Croesus" is a phrase we often hear 
spoken, although many of the persons who use it have 
no idea of who Croesus w 7 as, or of where or when he 
lived. Herodotus, an ancient traveler and writer, 



54 GREECE 

tells us that Croesus was a king of Lydia, an inland 
state in Asia Minor. Its capital city, Sardis, glittered 
with Eastern splendor, and its people lived in great 
luxury, so plentiful was their wealth. 

There were Greek colonies with prosperous cities 
in Ionia, on the sea-coast just west of Lydia. Some 
of these had been subdued by earlier Lydian kings, 
and in 550 B.C. Croesus conquered the others. He 
was now master over the greater part of Asia Minor 
and his riches were fabulous. He ornamented his 
capita] with such wonderful buildings that it at- 
tracted travelers from far and wide. One of these 
was the Athenian lawgiver Solon, who desired to see 
this Croesus, who was deemed the most fortunate of 
men. 

Croesus received him kindly, and bade his servants 
exhibit all his great treasure to the newcomer. Then 
he asked of Solon : " Whom boldest thou the happiest 
of mortals?" expecting to hear his own name spoken. 

But Solon replied : " Tellus, the Athenian, is to 
my mind the happiest. He saw his children and his 
children's children prosper. He lived happily and 
died gloriously, fighting for his country ; and he was 
buried, where he fell, with high honors as became a 
victor." 

Then the great king inquired further, " Who was 
next happiest ? ' thinking that he would surely hold 
second place. 

But Solon answered : " Cleobis and Biton of Athens 
are the next happiest. These were neither rich nor 



CBCESUS 55 

poor. But they possessed great strength and used it 
in honor of the gods. And in return, the gods gave 
them their best gift to man, sending them death in 
sleep after they had purified themselves by prayer 
and sacrifice." 

The astonished Croesus then asked why his own 
lot was less happy than that of those common men 
whom Solon had named. 

Solon replied : "Oh king, the life of man is full of 
chance. I cannot call thee happy until I shall know 
that thou hast ended thy days happily ! v 

Croesus was angered by these straightforward 
words of the wise Solon, yet in the end he came to 
see their truth. 

Misfortunes at length came thick and fast. His 
favorite son was slain while hunting. Cyrus, king 
of Persia, threatened to invade Lydia, and Croesus, 
confident of victory, went forth to give him battle. 
Twice he was defeated by the Persians. Sardis was 
taken. Croesus was captured, and condemned by 
Cyrus to be burned alive. 

While he lay helpless upon the pyre, which was al- 
ready beginning to blaze, the fallen monarch recalled 
the words of Solon : " No man may be called happy 
until a happy death endeth a happy life." 

A rainstorm put out the flames and Cyrus allowed 
Croesus to live. But the proud king who had been 
master of many states, who had rejoiced so greatly 
in his vast treasures of gold and jewels, remained to 
the end an unhappy dependent upon Persian bounty. 



56 



GKEEOE 



THREE GLORIOUS BATTLES 




I. Marathon, 490 B. C. 

When we read of Sardanapalus 
and of Nebuchadnezzar, we are 
amazed at the extent of their em- 
pire, at its unequaled wealth and 
splendor. Imagine then the im- 
pression which the successors of 
these magnificent rulers must have 
made on the people of little Greece 
miltiades. just over the sea. These people 

were too valiant to show fear, but far down in their 
hearts they were doubtless glad that the iEgean Sea 
rolled between them and their mighty neighbors. 

At the time of which we are now speaking, Persia 
had become the greatest power in A^ia, and Greece 
had good cause to fear the anger of its king Darius,, 
Nine years before, the Athenians had aided some of 
his cities to revolt, and had helped to burn Sardis* 
Now Darius had never even heard of the Athenians 
until he learned of this daring deed. He was fully 
occupied with more important matters, but lest he 
should forget, he had bidden a servant tell him, 
every day at dinner, to " remember the Athenians. " 
Moreover, when he sent to them and to the Spartans 
for the customary tokens of a nation's submission, 
namely, a bit of its earth and a vessel of its water. 



THKEE GLORIOUS BATTLES 57 

both refused it, ill-treating and insulting his mes- 
sengers. 

When Darius at last found time to attend to these 
independent states, he set forth with a great fleet, 
expecting to crush them at a blow, much as we 
might do with an aggressive mosquito. 

The Athenians sent hurriedly to Sparta for aid. 
The Spartans were willing enough to help, but being 
engaged in their religious sacrifices just then, could 
not possibly leave home. Meanwhile Darius was 
heading straight for Marathon, a broad plain just out- 
side of Athens, where there was ample room for his 
famous cavalry. 

There he found the Athenians drawn up in battle 
order, calmly waiting for him. Never did soldiers 
present a braver front. Facing total extinction, they 
stood like bronze awaiting the order to advance. 
And when their leader, Miltiades, gave it, they 
charged wildly upon the enemy, fighting over every 
inch of ground, until they had chased the last Per- 
sian back to his ship. 

Furious at their unaccustomed defeat, the Persians 
sailed for Athens, determined to vent their rage on 
the beautiful city. But picture their astonishment 
and chagrin at finding the same men who had fought 
them at Marathon, waiting for them there, ready to 
defeat them again ! This was too much. They in- 
stantly pointed their prows homeward, and sped 
away as fast as the wind would drive them. 

The Spartans, having finished their prayers, arrived 



58 



GREECE 



at Athens too late to share in the glory. But they 
marched to Marathon, looked at the thousands of 
dead Persians still lying there, congratulated the 
Athenians heartily, and marched home again, griev- 
ing sorely that they had missed the glorious fight. 



II. Thermopylae, 480 B.C. 



Darius made no further attempt to master Greece. 
He realized that though the Greeks might be over- 
come by overwhelm- 




ing numbers, their 
S. heroic spirit could 
never be subdued. 
Their little mountain- 
ous country was of 
no value to him any- 
way, and since it 
could be but a troub- 
lesome possession, he 
would leave it to it- 
self. 

After the death of 

Darius, however, his 

son Xerxes took a 

different view. All 

of Asia was his; 

Egypt was his ; why not Greece and whatever might 

lie beyond? Who dare oppose all-powerful Persia? 

So Xerxes gathered the mightiest army the world 



A FIGHTING PERSIAN. 



THREE GLOKIOUS BATTLES 59 

had ever seen, and led it across the Hellespont, the 
nearest approach to Europe, by means of a bridge 
of boats. So vast was the host that it took seven 
days and seven nights to cross this little strait. 
Overland they marched, everywhere victorious, the 
fleet sailing westward to aid him when he should 
reach Greece. 

His approach caused the most terrible consterna- 
tion among the Greeks. Even the Oracle at Delphi 
predicted their defeat. Athens and Sparta sought 
in vain to arouse the courage of the other states. 
Almost unaided, their two little armies marched 
northward to Thermopylae, a narrow gap in the 
mountains, through which the Persians must pass to 
enter Greece. With Leonidas, king of Sparta, at 
their head, the four thousand men determined to 
repel the invaders or die in the attempt. Suddenly 
Persians appeared in their rear ! A traitor had 
guided them thither along a goat-path. There was 
nothing now, save to retreat in good order. 

But Spartan law commanded her sons to conquer 
an enemy, or die at his hands. To survive defeat 
was dishonor. So Leonidas and three hundred Spar- 
tans held the pass. Back to back they stood, and 
stubbornly opposed the enemy, attacking them now 
from both sides. It was a hopeless struggle, and not 
a man of the intrepid band lived to tell the story. 

Thermopylae was lost. But the lion-like bravery of 
its handful of defenders, and the sight of the thou- 
sands they had slain, so appalled the Persians as they 



60 



GREECE 




THREE GLORIOUS BATTLES 61 

defiled through the bloody pass, that every heart 
quaked with fear at meeting such a foe on a fair 
battlefield. 

An inscription at Therniopyla3 thus honors the 
immortal Spartans who fought there : 

" Go, Stranger, and to Laceda^mon 1 tell, 
That here, obeying her behests, we fell." 

III. Salamis, 479 B.C. 

Ox the same day that Thermopylae witnessed the 
magnificent courage of Leonidas and his band, the 
Persian and Greek fleets met at sea. Two battles 
were fought, but the enemy continued to advance, 
unmindful of the loss the Greeks had inflicted. 
Storm hampered the Persians and wrecked hundreds 
of their vessels, but their ships still far out-numbered 
those of the Greeks. 

Meanwhile Xerxes had descended upon Athens and 
had burned it to the ground, its defenders being at 
Salamis with the fleet. All the other Greeks now 
hurried home to protect their firesides, leaving the 
Athenians almost alone. Presently these saw them- 
selves hemmed in at Salamis by the Persian fleet. 

Enraged by the loss of their beloved city, ignorant 
of the fate of their wives and little ones, and hungry 
for revenge, the Athenians fought like demons. The 
Persians, far inferior in seamanship, were outmatched 
and overcome at every turn, and remembering the 

1 Laceclaemon was another name for Sparta. 



THREE GLORIOUS BATTLES 



63 



slaughter at Thermopylae, put out to sea in wild 
panic. 

Xerxes, from his throne upon the neighboring hill- 
side, beheld the dreadful havoc wrought by the 
Athenians. He, too, lost heart. His ships were 
scattered. What if these terrible Athenians should 
hasten to the Hellespont and destroy the bridge of 
boats he had left there ? How then was he, Xerxes, 
the mighty ruler of Persia, to reach home ? 

Alarmed by the thought of such a calamity, he 
turned and fled northward with his frightened army 
at his heels. 

Marathon, Thermopylae, and Salamis had shattered 
the Eastern spell, not alone for the Greeks but for 
all Western peoples and for all time. The victory 
was the triumph of heroes, fighting for freedom, 
against the mighty odds wielded by the absolute mon- 
arch of a vast empire. It revealed to all the world 
the superior fighting qualities of the European and 
gave him a confidence in himself that nothing could 
henceforth shake. But best of all, these glorious 
battlefields saved Europe from the blight of despotism 
that, like a hideous nightmare, paralyzes the East 

even to this day. 

A 




G4 



GREECE 



SOCRATES 



469-399 B. C. 



From the earliest times the Greeks, as a people, 
were very fond of athletics and everything that leads 
toward the development of the body. The boys 
spent their days in the gymnasium, racing, wrestling, 
riding, and practicing with weapons. In Athens 

however, the youths received in- 
struction also, in language, in 
history, and in their duties 
toward the state. There were 
seats at the side of the gym- 
nasium, and here the boys sat 
and gave out questions for 
their teacher to answer. He 
always asked a question when 
he had answered one, and in 
this way he managed to in- 
troduce instructive subjects for 
discussion. 

Socrates, perhaps the great- 
est philosopher that the world 
has ever known, was always a welcome visitor in 
the gymnasium, especially when he motioned the 
teacher aside and took his place. The boys all loved 
Socrates in spite of his ugly body and his hideous 
face, in which the eyes bulged and rolled most hor- 




SOCRATES. 



SOCRATES 65 

ribly. For none answered their questions as quickly 
and as clearly as Socrates, and none put questions 
that were half so interesting, 

When Socrates walked through the streets he 
would stop wherever he saw men or boys gathered. 
He would listen to their talk and then join in it, His 
warmest wish was to awaken their desire for knowl- 
edge. He always knew how to attract their atten- 
tion and to interest them in his questions. Almost 
before they knew it, they would be discussing with 
him the faults men are constantly committing. Then 
by his direct questions he would lead them to plan 
how to avoid or lessen these faults. 

Presently people began to call him the " Conscience 
of Athens." They could not help listening to him, 
for he had a wonderful power over them. They 
always answered his plain questions, but they carried 
away with them an uneasy sense of their own wrong- 
doing. Thus it came about that though Socrates 
taught only what was pure and true, he became more 
and more unpopular. 

Some one accused him of interfering with the* re- 
ligion of the young. He was tried, declared guilty 
and sentenced to drink hemlock poison, the Greek 
method of execution. 

But he continued teaching to the end. Soothing 
the sorrow of his followers who gathered about his 
deathbed, he bade them remember that the soul, in- 
stead of dying with the body as others believed, is 
liberated at the end into eternal life. 



66 



GREECE 



His ugly body was a casket that held a world of 
beautiful thoughts. He gave them freely to all, and 
fortunately for us, many of his pupils wrote them 
down and founded schools in which his ideas were 
taught. These have been carefully preserved, and 
to-day there is not a school but follows the teachings 
of Socrates, the man whom his own people so stu- 
pidly and so ungratefully condemned to death. 



ALCIBIADES 



450-404 B. C. 



Among the boys who sat at the feet of Socrates 
none loved him more dearly than did Alcibiades, a 

lad graceful as Apollo, whose 
fine clothing and jewels pro- 
claimed him of noble rank. 
He had a brilliant mind, and 
a lofty ambition that spurred 
him to excel in his studies, as 
well as in athletics. Quick to 
resent criticism from anyone 
else, he heeded the slightest 
reproof from Socrates. When 
he grew up he won the prize 
at the Olympic Games three 
times in succession. This made him the idol of 
Athens, and he spent his days in feasting and pleas- 




ALCIBIADES. 



ALCIBIADES 67 

ure. He grew wildly extra vagant, yet a gentle touch 
from the hand of Socrates could curb his worst 
follies. 

In 415, Alcibiades was about to sail at the head of 
a fleet to attack a distant city. In the night some 
one had committed a dreadful crime. Every bust and 
statue of Hermes, the special god of the common 
people, had been overthrown or mutilated. Some one 
accused Alcibiades of having done this. He at once 
asked permission to withdraw from the fleet and 
defend the charge. But he was ordered to go and 
in his absence was tried, found guilty and condemned 
to death. 

When this news reached him, Alcibiades fled to 
Sparta. Here he schemed and plotted to gain power, 
sacrificing not only his own honor but that of all who 
trusted him. Away from the influence of Socrates, 
his worst characteristics became evident. Determined 
to overthrow Athens, he induced Sparta to attack her, 
and even called in the aid of the Persians, that com- 
mon enemy of all Greece. 

When Sparta discovered his real motive and 
threatened his life, he fled to Persia and persuaded 
that country to withdraw her aid from Sparta. He 
then coolly sent word to Athens that if he were per- 
mitted to return, he would secure Persian soldiers to 
assist her to defeat Sparta ; but, he added, he would 
never return to an Athens ruled, as before, by the 
common people's vote. The council of Four Hun- 
dred must henceforth be chosen only from the rich. 



68 GREECE 

The common people resented this blow to their 
treasured liberty. Civil war followed. The rich con- 
quered and sent for Alcibiades. 

But the sailors on the fleet would not consent to be 
thus deprived of their liberties. Alcibiades quickly 
saw that the real power of Athens lay in its fleet, and 
hastening to the ships, soon won over the men by his 
fine promises. Twice he led them on to victory, but 
in 404, he and his fleet were totally destroyed by 
Lysander the Spartan. 

Thus in miserable failure ended a brilliant life, 
sadly misspent. Had Alcibiades been true to the 
high ideals which Socrates had given him, he might 
have raised Athens to the pinnacle of Old World 
fame. But, yielding to evil impulses, he trampled 
upon her liberties, plunged her into the horrors of 
civil war and, through plotting with her enemies, 
wrought her utter downfall. 



DEMOSTHENES 

384-322 B. C. 

The boyhood of Demosthenes was most wretched. 
Death had robbed him of his parents, and wicked 
guardians had stolen his inheritance. No one cared 
for the poor lad, and he grew up neglected, miserable, 
sickly, and the laughing-stock of the boys in the street 
because of an impediment in his speech. He was 



DEMOSTHENES 



69 



naturally ambitious, but what had the future to offer 
to such as he ? 

One day he beheld a mass of people blindly follow, 
as one man, the dictates of a gifted speaker. Here 
then, he beheld a source of power 
that could move the world, the 
lonely boy said to himself . He, 
too, would be an orator ! 

He knew right well ho 1 
hopelessly distant was tb 
goal he had set himself. Br 
he determined to do his be* 
to reach it. For years h 
dwelt alone in an unde: 
ground cavern until, b 
steady perseverance, he 
had conquered the im- 
pediment in his speech. 
Far away from every 
one he studied argument 
and rhetoric, and prac- 
ticed speaking aloud 
until he commanded 
every tone of the hu- 
man voice. Then he 
re-entered the world. demosthenes. 

In the north a dark cloud hung threateningly over 
Greece. Philip, king of Macedonia, was preparing to 
annex her to his realm. Demosthenes surely knew 
that the turbulent, disunited Greeks could never 




70 GREECE 

repel the invasion of Philip, who, having spent three 
years among them, knew of their constant quarrel- 
ing. But he could not bear to see Greece surrender 
without a blow, like a mean coward. And surely 
not his own Athens, once so renowned for her 
courage ! 

So he launched against the powerful Macedonian 
king a series of magnificent speeches full of wonder- 
ful vigor and beauty. In these thundering " Philip- 
pics," as they were called, Demosthenes tried to 
awaken in the Greeks the fine spirit of their dead 
heroes. He longed to arouse them to unite and fight 
for their country against its common foe. In no other 
way could Greek culture and the Greek love for lib- 
erty be kept alive. 

For fourteen years Demosthenes continued to urge 
the men of Greece to defend their country's freedom, 
and neither threats of punishment nor promises of 
reward could turn him from his course. All in vain ! 
Not until Philip stood before Athens did the quarrel- 
ing states unite to give him battle. And then it 
was too late. Thev were defeated, and Macedonia 
was master of Greece. 

Philip did not punish the eloquent Athenian foi 
his fearless opposition, neither did his great son 
Alexander, w T ho succeeded him. But a later king, 
after crushing an uprising which Demosthenes had 
urged the Greeks to make, angrily decreed the 
patriot's death. 



ALEXANDER THE GREAT 71 



ALEXANDER THE GREAT 

856-328 B. C. 

Two years after his conquest of Greece and just 
as he was setting forth to conquer Persia, Philip of 
Macedonia was foully murdered. His son Alexander, 
then but twenty years old, succeeded to the throne. 
Aristotle, the famous Greek, had educated this prince 
most carefully, and he was in every way a gentle- 
man, a soldier, and a king. He loved to read 
Homer's stirring poetry. He knew the entire Iliad 
by heart, and, like its heroes, held a soldier's honor 
high above all else. 

Once, on the eve of a great battle, some one 
showed him how he might gain a mean advantage 
over his foe. Alexander, however, sprang to his 
feet in a violent rage and thundered, "/ steal no 
victory ! " 

At the head of the Macedonian army he invaded 
Asia, landing purposely on the site of historic Troy. 
On the classic soil he founded a new city, and 
with appropriate ceremony named it Ilium, to honor 
Homer. 

Alexander's superb military skill, unequaled in all 
history, now made itself evident. He conquered 
Persia. He quelled an uprising in Egypt, where he 
founded Alexandria, and gave the new city the 
richest libra rv in the world. 



72 



GREECE 




ALEXANDER THE GREAT 73 

One after the other he overcame every Asiatic 
chief that opposed him. Pausing in his triumphant 
course only long enough to found new cities, Greek 
in thought and in government, Alexander crossed the 
hitherto impassable Hindu-Kush mountains and men- 
aced India. ' He would undoubtedly have mastered 
this empire as he had mastered all others, but his 
trusted army resolutely refused to follow him. 

Nor had the ambitious Alexander any inducement 
to offer them. Every soldier was already clothed in 
glorj^ and rich in gold, through his share of the 
enormous treasure unearthed in the ancient Asiatic 
capitals. Victory had grown stale and conquest 
monotonous ; and the men longed to return home to 
share their prosperity with their wives and little ones. 

Alexander, unable to go farther, now made Baby- 
lon his capital, and amid glittering Eastern splendor, 
passed his days and nights in feasting and pleasures. 
But the indolence and the unaccustomed luxury 
sapped his strength, and at thirty-two death con- 
quered him who had been invincible in life. 

His enormous empire fell to pieces of its ow r n 
weight, but the fragments were mighty empires in 
themselves. Ruled over by Alexander's generals, they 
became centers in which the intellect and the culture 
of the West, and the dignified and refined manners 
of the East, mingled to the lasting advantage of 
civilization. 



ROME 



>ENEAS 



Homer, the Greek poet, chose for his heroes the 
conquerors in the Trojan War. Virgil, who was a 
Roman poet, took for the subject of his great work, 
the fate of those who were conquered. His poem, 
the iEneid, relates how the Greeks, constructing a 

huge wooden horse, 
gained access through 
its aid into the city 
of Troy. It then de- 
scribes the fall of 
Troy and narrates 
the adventures that 
befell iEneas and his 
companions, after 
they fled from the 
captured city. 
iEneas, the son of Venus and Anchises, was, after 
Hector, the bravest of the defenders of Troy. He 
had fought honorably and valiantly for the Trojan 
cause. But now the city lay in ruins, and he went 
forth from it, bearing his aged father upon his back 
and leading his young son by the hand, 

74 




THE WOODEN HORSE. 



ROMULUS 75 

Other Trojans joined him, and he assumed the 
leadership of the little band that, like Ulysses, 
encountered many strange adventures. Finally, after 
much distress, the sea-god Neptune guided them to 
Carthage, on the northern coast of Africa. There 
they were made welcome, and received such friendly 
treatment that they were loath to depart. 

But Jupiter reminded iEneas of his mission to 
found a new race in Italy, and the Trojans set sail 
once more. They landed at Latium, a city near the 
mouth of the Tiber River in Italy. The king, Lati- 
nus, was kind and allowed iEneas to marry his 
daughter Lavinia. The princess had many other 
lovers, but Latinus chose iEneas because of a warning 
dream that had come to him. This dream foretold 
that if Lavinia would wed a foreigner, a race destined 
to subdue the world would spring from the union. 

After the death of Latinus, iEneas became king of 
Latium. He ruled well and strengthened his country 
by victorious wars and by wise alliances. His son, 
it is said, founded Alba Longa, a city of great impor- 
tance in its time. 



ROMULUS 

Died 710 B. C. 



According to the Latin legends, Romulus and 
Remus, the twin brothers who founded Rome, were 
sons of Mars, the god of war. On the mother's side 



/ o 



6 ROME 



they were descended from iEneas, the Trojan hero. 
They were born in Alba Longa, but a cruel uncle cast 
them, while they were yet babies, with their mother, 
into the river Tiber. The friendly river-god washed 
the babies ashore and a fierce wolf nursed them into 
boyhood. A good shepherd saw them one day, and 
feeling sorry for the lads, took them to live with his 
own boys. Grown to manhood, the brothers deter- 
mined to found a city of their own. This was sup- 
posed to have been in 753 B.C. 

Thev selected a site on the Tiber where seven hills 
clustered. On one of them, the Palatine, they built 
an altar. There, amid prayers and sacrifices, they 
began the new city. When the plow had drawn the 
first furrow Remus leaped over it with a laugh, 
ridiculing the " city." The angry plowman struck 
him down for his daring. When Romulus heard of 
the death of Remus he was much distressed; but 
with a spirit truly Roman, he sternly exclaimed : 
" So be it with all who pass over my walls ! ' 

Men flocked to the new city, so the story goes, but 
no women. So Romulus proposed a celebration of 
games, and invited all the people to attend, from near 
and far. When the games were at their height some 
one gave a signal, and every Roman seized a visiting 
maiden and carried her to his home. Romulus tried 
to soothe the anger of the men, assuring them that 
their women would be well treated. But they went 
away, vowing revenge. 

Presently they returned to attack Rome. The 



cincin:n t atus 77 

kidnapped women hurried out to meet them, and 
told their fathers and brothers that they were very 
happy with their Roman husbands. Peace was de- 
clared, and the young city remained uninjured. 

As the years went by, Rome prospered and was 
growing in power, when Romulus suddenly and mys- 
teriously disappeared. Great was the anxiety until 
one of the citizens declared that he had seen Romulus 
clad in shining armor, and that the vanished leader 
had spoken to him. Romulus told him, he said, 
that, having now founded the city that should one 
day rule the world, his work was done. The gods 
had called him to Heaven, but if the Romans would 
remain brave and temperate, he would become their 
special god and protector, Quirinus. 

The people believed these tidings ; they erected an 
altar in honor of the new god, and met annually 
to celebrate his memory. 



CINCINNATUS 

519-439 B. C. 

The city which Romulus had built grew rapidly. 
Now and then the Romans quarreled with the people 
who dwelt near them, and wars followed. It was 
during one of these that some soldiers one day 
rushed headlong into the city, announcing breath- 
lessly that the Roman army had been entrapj^ed in a 



78 



ROME 




mountain 

pass, and that nothing now 

lay between the enemy and Rome. 

The dismay was great, the terror greater. With 
its army hemmed in and the enemy on the march,, 
what could save the city from destruction ? 

Then the cry arose : " Cincinnatus ! Cincinnatus ! ' 
Forthwith a committee hurried away to where he 
dwelt, on the further side of the Tiber. He was of 
noble birth and noted far and wide for his wisdom ; 



CINCINNATI'S 79 

but he was so poor that to support his family he had 
to till his farm with his own hands. Clad in a 
laborer's garb, he was guiding his plow when the 
men of Rome appeared before him. They came, they 
said, to invite him to rule as dictator and to avert 
the awful danger that threatened the city. 

Cincinnatus glanced regretfully at his unfinished 
furrow, and then across the yellow river to the hills 
of Rome. She needed him, was waiting for his help. 
That was enough. 

He was a man of few words, but quick to act. He 
bade the men return and reassure the city. Next 
morning at daylight he appeared in the market place 
in Rome, and ordered every man to set aside his 
business ; to collect rations to last five days ; and to 
meet him at sunset on the Field of Mars. 

At evening a new army, with Cincinnatus at its 
head, marched out of Rome in dead silence. Before 
midnight it had surprised and routed the enemy. 
Rescuing the imprisoned Romans, the combined 
armies returned home, where a glorious triumph 
awaited Cincinnatus, the farmer hero. 

The Roman Triumph was a great honor, accorded 
only upon rare occasions. It was a joyous procession 
that wended its way through the streets of the city, 
where tables spread with rich food for the returning 
soldiers lined the streets. 

First in line marched the prisoners, bound or 
chained together. Behind them came the victorious 
hero's chariot ; after him the captured banners, and 



80 ROME 

last of all, the soldiers laden with the spoils of 
war. 

All Rome burst into loud huzzahs as Cincinnatus 
rode past, his toga wrapped about his toil-bronzed 
shoulders. Right and left he bowed and waved a 
friendly greeting w T ith his hand. 

When the day was done, the sturdy old Roman 
quietly resigned his dictatorship that within twenty- 
four hours had raised an army, defeated the enemy, 
and saved Rome from destruction. Had he willed it, 
the grateful people would have made him dictator 
for life. Instead, he left the republic that he had 
saved, to rule itself, and returned straightway to his 
unfinished furrow. 



PYRRHUS 

318-272 B. C. 

Pyrrhus, king of Epirus, a state in Greece, was a 
direct descendant of Achilles, hero of the Iliad. Born 
a few years after Alexander s death, and while the 
world still rang with his fame, he took the great 
conqueror as his model. Ascending the throne when 
he was twenty-three, he at once reached out for power. 
Conquering Alexander's own country, Macedonia, he 
determined to extend his empire westward instead of 
eastward. 

An Italian state, at war with Rome, sent to him 
for help. Here was his opportunity. He invaded 



PYHKHUS 



81 




A WAR ELEPHANT. 



Italy, hoping to conquer Rome, and after that all 
other powers in Europe and in Africa. By reason of 
his military skill, his well-trained army, and his great 
war elephants, animals which the terrified Romans 
had never yet beheld, he defeated 
them in a great battle. The 
conquered ones fought so bravely, 
however, that after the battle 
was over, Pyrrhus declared that 
at the head of such soldiers he 
could master the world. But, he 
added frankly, another such vic- 
tory would send him back to 
Epirus alone. 

He was now ready to make 
peace, but the Romans refused to treat with him 
Avhile his army remained in Italy. He then marched 
on Rome itself, but finding that the state which had 
asked his aid had left him to fight alone, he declared 
a truce. He then went to the island of Sicily, to aid 
its cities to defend themselves from Carthage, a pow r - 
erful and grasping city on the northern shore of 
Africa. 

Later he returned to Italy, where he was badly re- 
pulsed by the Roman legions, as their regiments were 
called. 

Disappointed in his ambitions, he now returned 
home. He had accomplished nothing for himself, 
but his invasion of Italy had done much for Rome. 
She was already rich and prosperous at home where. 



82 EOME 

by gradually extending a network of roads, she was 
bringing all Italy into touch with herself. But the 
victory over Pyrrhus, the famous soldier, had inspired 
her legions to fuller confidence in their own strength 
in war, and had won for them the sincere respect of 
the surrounding nations. 

Henceforth, at home and abroad, Rome became a 
power to be reckoned with in matters of either offense 
or defense. 



HANNIBAL 

247-183 B. C. 

On account of the wars which Alexander waged in 
the East, the Phoenicians lost their carrying trade be- 
tween Europe and Asia. The city of Carthage on 
the southern coast of the Mediterranean Sea had a 
fine harbor, and the merchants found it safer to trade 
there than in the neighborhood of marauding soldiers. 

Carthage, therefore, grew very rich, much to the 
joy of its inhabitants. But when Rome declared war 
against their city, they became anxious and fearful 
lest much of their wealth should be taken from them. 

Hannibal, a young and daring general, was in 
Spain with a Carthaginian army. He had no ships 
to carry him to Italy, and therefore he determined 
to invade Rome from the north. This meant that 
he must march his army through Spain and Gaul 
(now France and Switzerland), and across the impas- 



HANNIBAL 



83 



sable, snow-covered Alps. These were hostile coun- 
tries, and his men would have to fight for every 
ounce of food they needed while on the march. 

The men, accustomed to the hot sun of Africa, suf- 
fered frightfully, fording the ice-cold Alpine streams. 
They floundered in deep snow and slipped and fell on 
the frozen rivers, which 
we call glaciers. Their 
own hardships were in- 
creased by the care they 
had to give their horses 
and their herd of war 
elephants. But at last 
the terrible march was 
over, a march which made 
them and their beloved 
general famous forever, 
and passing southward, 
they took one Roman city 
after the other. 

Had Hannibal then at- 
tacked Rome, he might have conquered her. But he 
waited for the aid which Carthage had promised him, 
but which her people were too miserly to send. 

Meanwhile the Romans, afraid to meet Hannibal 
in battle, found an easier way to get rid of him. 
They simply sent their legions to attack Carthage, 
knowing that its people would instantly send for 
him, to protect them and their treasures. And that 
is exactly what happened. 




HANNIBAL. 



84 EOME 

The legions camped outside of Carthage awaiting 
the coming of Hannibal, whose recall they had man- 
aged so cleverly. For the first time in his life the 
great Hannibal met defeat. Carthage surrendered, 
and the Romans seized a large part of her wealth. 

The unhappy Carthaginians now implored Hanni- 
bal to rule them. Under his able government the 
city grew rich once more, and again it grew uneasy. 
The people knew that Hannibal had sw r orn eternal 
enmity with Rome. They feared he might plunge 
them into another war, and secretly sent word to 
Rome that he was taking steps in that direction. 

Hannibal left Carthage and went to Asia, where 
he ended his life rather than see himself led in chains 
through the streets of Rome. 

Hannibal possessed the courage of the heroes of old 
Greece, and with it the wisdom and the patriotism of 
the Romans. He was one of the greatest generals 
that ever lived, but he accomplished nothing because 
his nation was too cowardly to fight even for its own 
honor. 



CATO 

234-149 B. C. 



When Hannibal's invasion of Italy caused the 
Romans to fear for the fate of their nation, Cato 
was a boy in the military school. He was upright 
in everything, and faithfully performed every duty. 



CATO 85 

But he was not popular, because he was always ridi- 
culing the other boys for their fine manners, and 
scolding them for following the Greek fashions in- 
stead of living in true Roman simplicity. 

When he grew to manhood, and by his bravery 
gained the command of an army, he insisted upon 
the strictest discipline among his soldiers. He was 
a hard master, as unrelenting with others as with 
himself, but he led his men to victory after victory, 
and they had the glory of marching behind him in 
the triumph Rome accorded him. 

Later he held many important offices in the State, 
and always distinguished himself for his lofty patriot- 
ism and unswerving integrity. His was the true 
spirit of the stern old Roman ; and few shared it 
with him, though the Republic was then at the 
height of its greatness. 

It angered him to see Romans aping the effeminate 
Greek customs, giving themselves over to pleasure 
and to luxury ; and he loudly denounced them in 
the Forum and Senate. 

When elections drew near, he always examined the 
record and character of every candidate, and opposed 
all who had caught the infection of Greek luxury or 
of Carthaginian dishonesty. 

To lessen the extravagance in private life, he caused 
laws to be made, limiting the amount people might 
spend upon their food, their clothing, and ornaments. 

He was an old man when he urged the Romans to 
begin the third war with Carthage. He saw with 



86 HOME 

an anxious heart how dangerously near to Rome the 
rich African city lay, and her growing power alarmed 
him. He had not forgotten the dark days of his 
boyhood, when Hannibal had threatened proud Rome 
itself, and he wished to prevent such danger in the 
future. So he was glad when war was declared ; but 
he died before it ended in the complete downfall of 
Carthage. 

The whole nation mourned for him. He had been 
stern and often harsh, but only words of praise were 
heard of the honorable man who, from first to last, 
had ever struggled to be a true Roman. 



THE GRACCHI 

Tiberius, 168-133 B. C, Caius, 159-121 B. C. 

Hannibal had not been dead very long, when 
Rome and Carthage were again at war. This time, 
Carthage was totally destroyed by the victorious 
Scipio. The daughter of this great general married 
Tiberius Gracchus, a plebeian. Two sons and a 
daughter were born and then the father died. The 
young widow was asked in marriage by many woo- 
ers, amongst them a king. But she refused them 
all and devoted her life to the education of her sons. 
These she proudly exhibited as " her jewels/' when 
other women, mocking her poverty, showed her their 
ornaments and precious stones. 



THE GRACCHI 87 

When Tiberius, the elder son, was grown, he noted 
with indignation the suffering of the Roman people. 
Everywhere the rich had possessed themselves of 
the conquered territory, tilling it with slaves, while 
the men who had fought to get it were left to starve. 

Loudly Tiberius protested against such injustice. 

"Had Roman soldiers bled only to maintain the 
great in luxury ? " he asked. " ' Romans,' men said, 
' were masters of the world,' yet not a clod of earth 
could they call their own ! ' 

To undo this wrong the patricians would have to 
give up the land and divide it amongst the plebeians. 
But how could he force them to it ? 

Brave Cornelia spurred him onward. " They call 
me the daughter of Scipio," she said; "I wish to be 
known as the mother of the Gracchi ! " 

So Tiberius worked incessantly and finally secured 
land for every Roman. But through this act, he 
incurred the hatred of the patricians. These now 
denounced him as a demagogue, who sought popular- 
ity in order to make himself king of Rome. The 
people, inflamed at the thought of danger to the 
republic, grew riotous, and many were killed, among 
them Gracchus himself ! 

Caius Gracchus now took up his brother's work. 
An eloquent orator, he was elected one of the trib- 
unes, high officers who, together with the Senate^ 
ruled Rome. He used his great influence to improve 
the condition of the common people. He procured 
laws that enabled them to buy grain at a low rate, 



88 ROME 

and others that raised the value of their property 
by building new roads and bridges. 

The rich accused Caius of only pretending to help 
the commoners in order to further his own ends. 
They sought to undermine his power by falsely 
promising to do more for the people than he did. At 
the next election there was much excitement in the 
streets. Blows were exchanged, and in the tumult 
Caius Gracchus, like his brother Tiberius, was slain. 

When it was too late, the Roman people learned 
who had been their best friends. They could not 
bring back the noble brothers, but they honored in 
death those whom many of them had misunderstood 
in life. 

Henceforth Cornelia was spoken of as " The 
Mother of The Gracchi," the two sons whom she 
trained to feel that fidelity to Rome, even unto death, 
was a Roman's highest duty. 



JULIUS C^SAR 

100-44 B. C. 

The simplicity and the stern patriotism of the 
men of old Rome had utterly disappeared when the 
last century before the Christian era dawned. In 
its very first year Julius Caesar was born, a man 
wonderfully gifted with oratory, personal magnetism, 
and military genius. 



JULIUS CAESAR 



89 



He had successfully conducted a war in Spain, when 
disturbances arose in Gaul, and Rome sent him 
beyond the Alps to restore peace. He fought eight 
brilliant campaigns, car- 
rying his legions into 
far-distant Britain. 
Wherever he 
went he intro- 
duced Roman 
laws and cus- 
toms, built 
roads and fort- 
resses, and 
walled cities. 

While doing all 
this he still found 
time to write a his- 
tory of his campaigi 
using such pure and 
forceful language that the 
" Commentaries," as the 
book is called, is now used in every school where 
Latin is taught. 

After the close of these wars, Caesar and Pompey, 
a general who had gained many victories in the East, 
controlled the affairs of Rome. Each sought to make 
himself the sole ruler, and to win over the people 
and also the Senate, to his side. The people favored 
Caesar, but the Senate upheld Pompey, and ordered 
his rival to disband his army and return to Rome. 




JULiUS C/ESAR. 



90 



ROME 



Instead of obeying, Caesar marched against Rome at 
the head of his army. City after city opened its gates 
to him, and when he reached Rome, he found that 
Pompey and the senators had fled into Greece, taking 
an army with them. Civil war now broke out, and at 
Pharsalus, in Greece, in the year 48 b. c, Caesar 
defeated the greatly superior forces of Pompey. 
Pompey fled, but was murdered soon afterward, the 




ROMAN WARSHIP IN THE TIME OF OESAR. 



assassins thinking their act would please Caesar. 
But when the bloody head was brought to the con- 
queror, instead of rejoicing that his rival was no 
more, he wept, and ordered the assassins killed and a 
fitting funeral accorded to the dead Pompejr. 

Caesar next subdued all who yet remained in arms 
against him. When he returned to Rome, the triumph 
that awaited him was more splendid than any that 
city had yet beheld. Without a dissenting voice, the 



SPARTACUS 91 

people now proclaimed that Caesar should be Dictator 
for life. 

A group of nobles and senators, afraid that this man 
whom the people and the army loved so dearly, might 
seek to make himself king and thus overthrow the 
republic, banded themselves together and decreed 
the death of " the tyrant." By a prearranged plot 
they crowded about Caesar as he entered the Senate 
chamber, on the fifteenth day of March, 44 b. c. and 
stabbed him to death. He fell headlong at the foot 
of Pompey's statue. 

Caesar's had been a just rule, and under his guid- 
ance Rome prospered greatly. He built canals and 
bridges. He planted cities in all the captured prov- 
inces and allowed the poor of Rome to settle them. 
He molded the many different races that peopled 
the empire into one great nationality, with Rome, to 
which all roads led, as its capital. 

His death plunged the nation into civil war, and 
instead of prolonging the life of the republic, it served 
to hasten its end. 



SPARTACUS 

Died 71 B. C. 



The public games of Rome which once had been 
innocent trials of the athletic ability of individuals, 
changed in character as Rome grew greater. The 
people clamored for entertainment of a more exciting 



92 



ROME 



nature, and slaves were set to fight each other in 
public, to the death. 

To make greater sport, only the most powerful of 
the slaves were selected, usually Gauls of gigantic 
size. These gladiators, as they were called, were 




GLADIATORS. 



placed in training schools and taught how to fight 
scientifically, that they might satisfy the most ex- 
acting audience. 

The gladiators were numerous, and although they 
were slaves, many of them had become such only 
through being made prisoners in war. One of these, 
Spartacus by name, was descended from kings. He 
incited his companions to make their escape from the 
training-school, and to flee with him to the moun- 
tains. From there they could make their way to 



CICERO 93 

their distant homes. They reached the mountains 
safely, and their band was soon increased by swarms 
of outlaws and unruly men. They were forced to 
draw their food from the surrounding country, but 
Spartacus tried his best to restrain them from acting 
with the cruelty of brigands. 

Three thousand Roman soldiers were sent to cap- 
ture the gladiators ; but Spartacus defeated them, 
and then set out northward, hoping to cross the 
Alps into freedom. But his adherents, well pleased 
with their robber life, refused to follow. Spartacus 
was again attacked by a large body of Romans, and 
again he defeated them. He once more pleaded 
with his men to leave Italy and regain their liberty, 
but they preferred to sack and pillage as before. 

Rome now sent eight of her famous legions to 
capture Spartacus. This time he was defeated ; and 
though he escaped and made another stand, he was 
finally overcome and killed in 71 b. c. 



CICERO 

106-43 B. C. 



The gift of oratory is a most valuable possession. 
In olden times it was a powerful weapon for good 
or evil, nor has it even yet lost its magic influence. 
I have called it a gift, but reading the story of 
Demosthenes one learns how it can be acquired by 
hard work and unceasing practice. 



94 



EOME 



To Cicero, the greatest orator of Rome, the gift 
came by nature. But had he not spent years of study 
in developing it, his fame would not have outlived 
the many centuries that have rolled by since, standing 
in the Forum, or in the Senate chamber, his eloquent 
words thundered forth his warnings and his wise 

counsels. Cicero was a 
lawyer by profession, and 
his speeches of defense 
and of denunciation are 
masterpieces of brilliant 
oratory. He took the 
deepest interest in affairs 
of state, for he regarded 
this as the duty of every 
citizen of the republic. 
He held many different 
offices, and in each dis- 
tinguished himself for his 
ability and sterling honesty. 

He made many enemies, of course, and was falsely 
accused of cruelty and injustice in administering the 
laws. He was banished for this, but at the end of a 
year was recalled by Pompey and Caesar, then the 
rulers of Rome. 

But the strong stand he always took for the stern 
principles on which the republic w 7 as founded, once 
more brought down upon him the hatred of the poli- 
ticians, and he had to flee from Rome. At the insti- 
gation of these men he was set upon and murdered 




CICERO. 



NERO 95 

upon his own doorstep, and the head and hands that 
had worked so faithfully for the state were brutally 
severed from his body and hung up in Rome for his 
enemies to gloat over. 

Many of Cicero's speeches have come down to us, 
and like the " Commentaries" of Caesar, they have been 
adopted by schools all over the world as models of 
style and language. His letters have been saved, too, 
and these and the record that he kept of daily events 
are a faithful and priceless mirror of the manners 
and customs of his time. 



NERO 

37-68 A. D. 



Civil war followed the murder of Caesar. When 
it ended, the Republic was dead and the Roman 
Empire had risen in its place. 

For a while Rome enjoyed peace and order. The 
excellent roads stimulated travel and trade, and kept 
the capital in touch with its distant provinces. The 
universal success of the Roman arms made the em- 
peror the greatest ruler in the world. 

The possession of unlimited power is a great temp- 
tation to wickedness and cruelty, and the conduct 
of many of the emperors of Rome proved this most 
conclusively. 

When Nero became emperor he was still under the 



96 



ROME 



excellent influence of his teacher Seneca, the great 
philosopher. For five years he ruled justly. Then 
he gave free reign to the a wild beast" within him 
that Seneca had taught him how to control. He 
plunged headlong into a career of crime, remarkable 
for its enormity even in those times. 

A terrible fire broke out in Rome that lasted six 

days. It was said that 
Nero himself had ordered 
it, and that he had watched 
its progress with pleasure 
from the roof of his pal- 
ace. To avert the charge 
from himself, Nero ac- 
cused the Christians of 
the crime, 

He declared that the 
gods were incensed be- 
cause the new religion was 
depriving them of their 
rightful worship. He 
claimed that it was their 
just anger that had sent pestilence into Rome after the 
fire ; and that an earthquake that had shaken Italy, 
and a serious defeat that the Legions had sustained in 
the East, were due to the same cause. Since the new 
faith was to blame for all this, its followers must be 
exterminated, the emperor decreed, and wicked per- 
secutions followed. 

The pleasure which the Roman people took in the 




NERO. 



POMPEII 97 

gladiatorial contests had risen almost to insanity. The 
cruelty exhibited in the arena was most abhorrent, 
The gladiators were now matched against wild beasts, 
purposely starved into ferocity. To vary the enter- 
tainment, and also to appease the insulted gods, Nero 
ordered all who forsook the old religion to be fed 
in public to the lions. Other cruelties, even w T orse, 
were contrived by this human monster, but we need 
not describe them here. 

The conduct of this monstrous emperor grew so 
disgraceful that the army revolted from his rule. 
Almost at the same time the Senate declared him a 
public enemy, and sentenced him to be scourged to 
death. 

To avoid this shameful but well-merited punish- 
ment, Nero ordered a slave to kill him w T ith a 
knife thrust. Thus miserably perished Nero whom 
enormous power had converted into a fiend. 



POMPEII 

Destroyed 79 A. D. 

Ix Cicero's time and afterward, Pompeii was a 
beautiful city on the bay of Naples, and the home of 
many rich and fashionable Romans. Just above it 
towered Vesuvius, a volcano that for ages had been 
as harmless as the violet mists that clothed its 
summit. 



98 ROME 

One August morning the air about Pompeii was 
hot and murky, strangely still and sickening. The 
birds stopped singing. The sun gleamed through a 
coppery haze, and there were rumblings like distant 
thunder. In the amphitheater the usual cruel sports 
were going on, and the audience loudly applauded 
men writhing in the agony of death. Suddenly a 
cry rang out : " The mountain ! The mountain ! ' 

Above its crest there rose a dense black cloud 
shaped like a giant pine tree. First came the 
branches, stretching ever wider ; then the great 
trunk ; and at its base, a mass of tangled, fiery roots 
that, like flaming serpents, darted and squirmed in 
every direction. 

Every heart stood still. Then, screaming, pushing, 
fighting, falling, the great population rushed forth, 
fleeing toward the sea. The earth rocked and split 
open. The awful cloud descended and wrapped the 
city in darkness. Soft ashes dropped from above 
like a veil, choking the people's eyes and ears and 
lungs. Thicker and thicker it fell, until like drifts 
of snow, it blocked every avenue of escape. 

Quivering flashes of lightning, steel blue, orange, 
violet, crimson, and green, played over the volcano. 
Rivers of boiling water, whirling torrents of seething 
mud, overwhelmed the people as they sought to 
escape. Crashes like heavy artillery deadened the 
sound of falling walls. Broad streams of glowing 
lava wound sluggishly down the mountain, and then 
crawled through the city streets, overflowing every 



POMPEII 



99 




100 ROME 

obstacle. Four days the rain of fire lasted. Then 
the sun peeped forth once more, upon a city buried 
in the midst of life. 

Seventeen hundred years later, people dug away 
the hardened crust, and the modern world found in 
the uncovered city a picture of the daily life of im- 
perial Rome, complete in every detail. 

In the street of the merchants, the shops still dis- 
played their wares. In the residence district, frescoed 
walls, protected through the ages by the ashes that 
had sifted into the unroofed palaces, seemed painted 
but yesterday ; the mosaic floors were brilliant as if 
newly laid ; the marble fountains were white as 
snow. Food lay spread upon the banquet tables ; 
eggs rested unbroken in baskets ; loaves of bread 
were in the ovens. And skeletons were everywhere ; 
clasped together in a last farewell ; hugging vases 
filled with gold coins and jewels ; and buried in lava, 
with every detail of dress and armor and form, pre- 
served forever in the mold that inclosed them. 



CONSTANTINE 

274-337 



The Roman empire, in spite of much misrule, con- 
tinued to increase in power and in wealth. A long 
line of emperors followed Nero, some wise and others 
wicked. After a time the soldiers that guarded 



(OXSTAXTIXE 



101 



Rome managed to get the electing power* in their 
own hands. Emperors now came and went in quick 
succession, and periods of civil war became frequent. 
Finally the soldiers offered the imperial office for 
sale and gave it to the highest bidder. This shame- 
ful act, so widely opposed to the patriotic spirit of 
old Rome, roused the brave legions stationed on the 




THE ARCH OF CONSTANTINE. 



frontiers of the empire to interfere. These quickly 
deposed the emperor elected by such disgraceful 
means, and replaced him with their best general. 
Order was restored, but the old Roman customs were 
fast dying out. When Constantine came to the 
throne, the government was merely an absolute 
monarchy without a trace of the privileges that had 
been so dear to the republic. c 



102 ROME 

The persecution that the Christians endured during 
the reign of the cruel Nero and afterward, did not 
hinder the spread of the new belief. But its growth 
was materially helped when Constantine allowed 
himself to be converted, and declared Christianity 
the religion of the state. 

This act roused anger among the large number of 
Romans who still worshiped the old gods. Incensed 
by their enmity, and moved also by political reasons, 
Constantine decided to abandon Rome and build a 
more splenclid capital. The ancient city was too 
insignificant, he said, to be the head of an empire 
that included all Europe and a large part of Asia. 
He selected for the new capital a magnificent site at 
the point where Europe and Asia almost touch, and 
began the erection of the city with great pomp. It 
grew rapidly, and in 330 he dedicated it with fitting 
ceremony to the Virgin Mary, and named it, in his 
own honor, Constantinople. 

Constantine was a clever statesman and ruled with 
much skill. He systematized the government of the 
enormous empire, dividing it into three departments, 
— civil, military, and religious. This conferred a 
large amount of political power upon the Christian 
church, and made it for centuries a strong factor in 
the history of the world. For this, and for his firm 
hand that united the various Christian sects in one 
church, the name of Constantine the Great will ever 
be remembered. 



MEDLEVAL EUROPE 



ATTILA THE HUN 

P-453 A. D. 

When the Roman empire was at the height of its 
power, a remarkable movement was taking place in 
Asia, far beyond the provinces where her eagle ban- 
ners flew. In Central Asia a wild horde of Huns and 
Tartars, starving in the arid region that had been 
their home, started upon a migration into new lands. 

Like an avalanche they poured into Russia, over- 
whelming everything in their path. Their furious 
onslaughts subdued every tribe that dared to resist. 
Killing the old men, the women, and the children, they 
forced the fighting men to join their ranks and then 
swept on. Like a herd of fierce wolves, these sav- 
ages pushed ever westward, burning, pillaging, slay- 
ing, and dragging with them every man who could 
wield a sword or a lance. 

Wherever they appeared, wild panic seized the 
people, and whole nations fled at their approach. 
Even the courageous Goths trembled before the in- 
vaders, believing them demons, not men. And no 
wonder ! Never before had they beheld creatures 

103 



104 



MEDIEVAL EUROPE 



that equaled in fierceness and cruelty these under- 
sized beings who sat upon their swift horses as if a 
very part of them. Their naked limbs were covered 
with black hair, and their habits were so filthy, that 
the winds brought the vile odor of their unwashed 
bodies hours before they swept into sight. 




THE HUNS. 



Like a plague of locusts eating the land bare wher- 
ever they alight, and then moving irresistibly on- 
ward in search of new fields to devour, these Eastern 
savages swarmed over Europe. Under their intrepid 
king, Attila, they overran Italy and the greater 
part of Western Gaul (now France and Switzerland). 



ATTILA THE HUN 105 

In the face of this universal terror, the Romans, 
the Franks, and the Southern and the Western Goths 
wisely ceased their constant bickering and united 
their forces, knowing that singly, even the Roman 
empire would fall before the savages. 

Meanwhile however, Attila, the u Scourge of God ' ! 
as the priests termed him, had invaded France with 
an army of half a million men, leaving behind the 
usual broad trail of blood and fire. With this 
mighty host he laid siege to Orleans. The Frankish 
city seemed doomed. Suddenly, on the horizon, 
gleamed the helmets of the Romans and the Western 
Goths. Attila fled hastily to Chalons, where his 
wonderful cavalry might have free play. 

Terrible was the conflict that was waged between 
East and West, and frightful the carnage. Night 
fell over a field strewn with hundreds of thousands 
of dead. Both armies had suffered so severely that 
neither could claim the victory. 

The next day Attila remained in camp, awaiting an 
attack and resolved to fight to the finish. But no 
attack w 7 as made, and the barbarians finally withdrew 
without molestation. 

Attila soon afterwards crossed the Alps and laid 
waste the whole of northern Italy. The city of Rome 
itself seemed doomed, when the barbarian suddenly 
changing his plans recrossed the Alps. He died soon 
afterward, and the vast empire of which he had made 
himself the master was broken up. 



106 MEDIEVAL EUROPE 



THE NIBELUNGENLIED 

Supposed to have been written about 600 A. D. 

What Homer did for Greece, and Virgil for 
Rome, the unknown author of the Nibelungenlied 
has done for Germany, and for all the other nations 
that belong to the Teutonic race. 

We Americans are sprung from this great family, 
and we proudly claim descent from those heroes 
whose loyalty to one another, even in death, we read 
of in the rude and ringing stanzas of the ancient 
Nibelungenlied. 

Herr Wagner, the great musician, made use of the 
story in his Nibelungen Trilogy, but he introduced the 
Norse myths and allowed the gods to help and hinder 
the heroes, much as Homer did in his story of Troy. 

In the " Lied " itself, however, the events recorded 
are the simple and natural outcome of human love, 
and hate, and greed for u yellow gold." The story 
is laid in the period when Attila, the Hun, overran 
Europe, and its closing scene of horror takes place in 
his rude castle in Vienna. 

The word " Nibelung " means " Land of the Mist." 
Within its shadowy realm, legend says, there once 
lay a vast treasure guarded by giants. 

Those who possess the treasure are called the Ni- 
belungen, and a curse seems to cling to the gold. 
Siegfried the hero, purer and nobler, but no less brave 



THE MBELUNGENLIED 107 




BRUNrilLDA. — A HEROINE OF THE NIBELUNGENLIED. 



108 MEDIEVAL EUBOPE 

than Homer's great Achilles, snatches the hoard of 
gold from the giants. The cruel fate that speedily 
overtakes him and those who treacherously rob him 
of the treasure, forms the body of the story. The 
characters are mainly historical and, like those of the 
Iliad, they afford us a realistic picture of those stir- 
ring times, when brave men sacrificed the last drop of 
blood for love and honor. 

But, unlike Homer, the nameless poet never sings 
of the beauty of the sea and sky, or of the gentler 
emotions that move men's hearts. Here all is vivid 
action. Wild and daring adventures follow in rapid 
succession, told in language less picturesque than 
Homer's, but stronger and more rugged. We watch 
the heroes rush headlong into the final tragedy. 
With the clang and clash of steel on steel, shoulder 
to shoulder they fight their last fight, and amid 
wreaths of smoke and lurid flames fall, one by one, 
the victims of a woman's vengeance. 

In the Iliad, the heroes shine forth clad in the 
honor and fame for which they strove so valiantly. 
In the Nibelungenlied, the heroes fight and fall 
linked together by ties of gratitude, of kinship, of 
sacred hospitality, or of the plighted word. 

We have seen in the stories of Ulysses and of 
Achilles that the keynote of Homer's Iliad is courage 
and glory, with trust in the gods. We have seen, too, 
how the Greek people were long influenced by the 
inspiration of the Iliad. The keynote of the Nibel- 
ungenlied is loyalty and fidelity. And presently we 






CLOVIS 109 

shall find these high qualities becoming the basis of 
a new form of government, destined to sway Europe 
for many centuries. This was the Feudal System, 
and it rested wholly upon fidelity to duty. Prom the 
king to the lowest churl, it demanded an oath from 
every man to obey those above him, and to protect 
and aid those below. 



CLOVIS 

465-511 



After the final defeat of the Huns, the Goths, re- 
turning to their lands, occupied such territory as they 
could seize and hold. The Franks, one of the various 
Gothic tribes, wandered northward into Holland and 
Belgium ; the Visigoths, westward into Spain and 
France. 

Christianity had been introduced among the Goths 
before Clovis became king of the Franks ; but he was 
a heathen. Though but fifteen when he began to 
rule, he at once showed his ability, and his determina- 
tion to enlarge his kingdom. The fertile fields of fair 
France filled him with longing, and the little corner 
of it that his father had won did not satisfy him. 
So he seized the kingdom of Paris, and annexed it to 
his own dominions. 

Burgundy was a troublesome neighbor, and an ex- 
cuse to attack it was not hard to seek. Clovis de- 



110 MEDIAEVAL EUROPE 

feated the Burgundians and made an alliance with 
them for mutual support in peace and in war. 

Clovis had by this time become a Catholic, and 
the Church begged him to protect it from its enemies 
in Southern Gaul. This was the land of the Visi- 
goths. The kingdom had long been torn in two by 
Christian factions which differed in their views, and 
the weak King Alaric was unable to quiet them. 

Scenting possible conquest, the ambitious Clovis 
readily consented to aid the Catholic party. He in- 
vaded Southern Gaul, and thus initiated the first of 
that long series of frightful wars, fought in the name 
of religion, that plunged Europe into darkness, and 
drenched it for centuries in the blood of brother 
fighting brother. 

With his Burgundian allies Clovis defeated the 
Visigoths, King Alaric falling in the first battle. 
Two years more of fighting, and Clovis was master of 
all France and Spain. Later he was induced to cede 
Spain and a strip of the southern French coast to 
Alaric's son. 

Clovis now sought to strengthen his kingdom, and 
at his death he left it, compact and well-governed, 
to his four sons. How these neglected their duty of 
caring for it, and how it was saved, you shall soon 
learn in the stories of Charles Martel and of Charle- 
magne. 

In the history of France the name of Clovis, the 
half-barbarian chief and Frankish conqueror, appears 
as her first king. 



AUGUSTINE 111 



AUGUSTINE 

A marked characteristic that the various tribes 
who dwelt in the British Isles had in common, as far 
back as Caesar's time, was the passionate desire for 
personal liberty. The free man, "the churl" of 
Britain, wore his blonde hair hanging long over a 
neck that never bent to a master. The " blood-bond" 
united the members of a family, and allegiance to its 
head was the highest duty. Families connected by 
ties of kinship, or by living on adjacent lands, formed 
alliances of offense and defense with one another for 
life and death. 

Originally the people were agricultural, but after 
the Roman conquest, cities sprang up, and a rude 
commerce was established. 

When the Goths threatened to overrun Italy, Rome 
recalled its powerful legions, and the Britons lived for 
a while under home-rule. This was not particularly 
successful, and it invited the invasion of the island 
by bands of daring Angles and Saxons whose dragon 
boats brought them in great numbers to the British 
coast. These fierce fighters speedily conquered the 
natives, and settled themselves in their midst. The 
birth of the English race dates from this period. 

Although the Britons had been partially converted 
to Christianity, the new conquerors worshiped the 



112 MEDIAEVAL EUROPE 

old Norse gods, and Thor and Woden were ac- 
knowledged by all. 

Small kingdoms now sprang up, and wars between 
them were frequent. The Saxon, or English man, who 
allowed himself to be taken a prisoner in these wars, 
was considered disgraced forever. No matter how 
high his rank may have been, he could be sold as a 
slave. The rule in battle was to conquer or to fall, 
and those who were captured were often sold into 
distant countries. 

One day, in far-off Rome, Pope Gregory the Great 
saw some of these English prisoners in the slave mar- 
ket. Their white skin and fair hair attracted his 
attention. He spoke to them, and learned that they 
were from England, and heathens. He inwardly 
determined to convert their people to Christianity. 

Opportunity presented itself for this when Ethel- 
bert, an English king, married a Christian princess of 
the Franks. The Pope sent Augustine, at the head 
of a band of monks, to England to teach the people 
the new religion. At the end of a year the king and 
thousands of his subjects became Christians. 

Augustine and his co-workers deserve much praise 
for their success. Their task was not easy, for the 
English people clung to the Norse religion which 
appealed so strongly to their barbaric nature. The 
good and wise Augustine very prudently allowed them 
to retain some of its harmless ceremonies, and more 
than one of these, like the May-pole dance, survives 
to this day. 



MOHAMMED 113 

MOHAMMED ' 

Arabia, 570-632 

When Alexander, and after him the Romans, in- 
vaded Asia, they paid no attention to Arabia. Yet 
this hot and sandy peninsula was destined to make 
all Europe tremble before its victorious armies. 

The Arabs claimed descent from Ishmael, who was 
sent to live in the desert by his father Abraham. 
They knew of the one God, but they were idolaters. 
They hung their idols around the Kaaba, a great 
black stone in Mecca, which they believed had fallen 
from heaven, and they gathered there every year to 
worship. 

Mohammed, a camel driver, lived in the city of 
Mecca. He had often listened to Jews and Chris- 
tians discussing religion, and he realized the stupidity 
and the sin of the Arabian idolatry. He longed to 
bring his people back to the worship of the one God 
of Abraham. For nine years he strove, yet he 
gained but a single follower. Then he left Mecca and 
went to Medina. This was in 622 of the Christian 
era. The Mohammedans call this event the " Hegira," 
and date the years from it. 

1 Although Mohammed was an Arab and his history properly belongs 
to that of Asia, his teachings and the deeds of his followers had great 
influence upon the history of Mediaeval Europe. For this reason a sketch 
of. his career becomes not only proper in connection with others here 
presented but absolutely necessary to a clear comprehension of the events 
to be narrated. 



114 MEDIAEVAL EUROPE 

Everywhere he went, he saw that his people had 
become a race of thieves and drunkards ; that the 
women were neither good nor modest, and that the 
poor suffered greatly. He went about teaching that 
"Allah is Allah," which means simply that God is 
God, and not an idol. 

He forbade gambling, stealing, and the drinking 
of wine ; he commanded the people to pray three 
times every day, and to give alms to the poor ; and 
he laid down strict rules of conduct for women. Iii 
return, he promised an everlasting paradise of earthly 
pleasures to all who would accept the new faith, fight 
for it, or die for it. 

The new religion spread rapidly throughout Arabia, 
and Mohammed determined to force it upon the rest 
of the world. His followers, believing that to die 
for their faith would straightway take them to the 
delights of heaven, welcomed war. Fearless of death 
and familiar with weapons, they were victorious in 
every battle, and everywhere they forced the con- 
quered to accept the new religion. 

Mohammed died in 632, but he had so impressed 
his followers with the truth of his belief, that thev 
looked upon the Koran, the book that contained 
his teachings, with the same feelings in which we re- 
gard our Bible. They followed his directions impli- 
citly, feeling that he represented God on earth. They 
conquered Palestine, Egypt, and the countries in Asia 
Minor, and compelled the people to accept Islam, as 
their faith is sometimes called. 



CHARLES M ARTEL 115 

Mohammedanism was established by the sword, but 
it took root and flourished, and to-day millions of 
men observe its commands. Many of its followers 
are selfish and cruel, but not one ever drinks, or 
gambles. Almsgiving is an every-day duty, and the 
women live modestly as Mohammed commanded. 

Dwelling in the open country the Arabs were nat- 
urally thoughtful. Mohammed encouraged educa- 
tion, and in later years the Arabian schools were 
world renowned for their deep knowledge of science 
and of mathematics. Indeed, it has been said that 
the Arabs who conquered Spain and dwelt there, 
kept the light of learning alive in Europe during the 
period which we call the Dark Ages. 



CHARLES MARTEL 

France, 694-741. 



The successful Arabs or Saracens (Easterns), as we 
must henceforth call them, poured along the northern 
coast of Africa from Egypt to the Pillars of Hercules. 
From these heights they viewed the fertile Andalu- 
sian fields, and presently they swarmed into Spain 
and triumphed over the Visigoths. These, if you 
will remember, owned also a strip of the southern 
coast of France, ceded to the son of Alaric by the 
great Clovis. From here the Saracens sallied forth 
into France itself. The sons of Clovis, living only 



116 MEDLEY AL EUROPE 

for their own pleasures, did nothing to hinder the 
advance of the daring Mohammedans. 

The cares of state had long since been too great a 
burden for these dainty gentlemen to bear, so they 
left such troublesome matters to Pepin, the Mayor 
(chamberlain) of the Palace. Fortunately this man 
was clever and able, and he at once sent his son 
Charles to expel the infidels. Charles met them at 
Tours, in the year 732, and defeated them so signally 
that never again did the followers of the Prophet, (as 
they called Mohammed,) attempt to set foot on French 
soil. 

So vigorously did Charles lay about him on the 
battlefield ; so many were the foes that fell before 
him, and so mighty the blows he rained right and 
left, that henceforth he was known always as Charles 
Martel (the Hammer). 

The importance of this victory at Tours cannot be 
overestimated. Had the Saracens triumphed, the 
weak sons of Clovis could never have stayed their 
onward march. Beyond France lay England, whose 
untrained defenders were no match for the skilled 
Arabian warriors. So, had it not been for the soldierly 
qualities of Charles Martel, we should very likely 
have had mosques, and not cathedrals, built in France 
and in England. And, instead of developing their 
Anglo-Saxon spirit, our ancestors would have been 
molded by the same Arabian influences that held 
sway in Spain for nearly a thousand years. 



CHARLEMAGNE 



m 



CHARLEMAGNE 



France, Germany, 742-814 

Chakles Martel, succeeding his father as Mayor 
of the Palace, was quite willing to do the work of the 
indolent sons of Clovis and let them have its glory. 
But his son Pepin was more ambitious, and when his 
turn came to act as king, he induced the Pope, who 
in those days made and unmade 
kings, to make him the nominal as 
well as actual ruler of France. 

At his death the crown passed to 
his son Charles, who, like Alexander, 
seems to have inherited every lordly 
gift. He succeeded to a prosperous 
and well-governed kingdom. He had 
military skill and a genius for poli- 
tics ; he w r as an active* law-giver ; 
a lover of literature ; a patron of 
learning in an age when education, 
outside of the church, was wholly 
unknown, and an architect of great 
ability. 

From his Frankish kingdom he looked out across 
the Rhine into a land still more than half heathen. 
He conquered and quieted the turbulent tribes ; he 
brought them under his rule, forced them to obey the 
laws, and to embrace Christianity. 




STATUE OF 
CHARLEMAGNE. 



118 MEDIEVAL EUEOPE 

He improved the internal affairs of his great king- 
dom and established justice everywhere, especially 
for the poor. 

He overthrew and punished the enemies of the 
Church in Italy, and in token of his gratitude, the 
Pope, after celebrating mass in St. Peter's in Rome 
on Christmas Day, 800, solemnly crowned Charles as 
" Charlemagne, King of Italy and Emperor of the 
West, Worthy Successor of the great Caesars of 
Rome." 

It w r as a great surprise, but no man merited it half 
so well as did this grandson of Charles Martel. 

He united France, Germany, Switzerland, Italy, 
and the Netherlands (Holland and Belgium) into one 
great nation. He gave the people schools and 
churches ; he built for their benefit roads and bridges 
and fortresses ; he appointed able and honest govern- 
ors, and made these fill the lower offices with men 
of similar character. 

When Charlemagne felt that his end was come, he 
had himself carried into the church at Aix. Sum- 
moning the nobles, he bade his son Louis stand up 
and in their presence swear : 

" To fear God ; to love his people as if they 
were his own children ; to do right and execute 
justice ; and to walk uprightly before God and 
men." 

And when Louis had taken the solemn oath, Charle- 
magne lifted the imperial crown, saying : 

"Take this crown, set it upon your head, and 






EOLAKD 119 

never, never forget the promise you have made this 
day!" 

Charlemagne was buried amid universal sorrow, in 
his beloved cathedral at Aix. The light from its 
dome sifts softly down on the great stone slab that 
covers his tomb. It bears only the simple inscrip- 
tion 

" Carolo Magno." 

None could be more fitting. For Charlemagne needed 
neither pyramid nor rock-tomb, neither marble nor 
glittering bronze to tell the after world of his great- 
ness. His best monument is the love and honor that 
were his in life, and that his people still pay to his 
memory. 



ROLAND 

France — Time of Charlemagne. Called Paladin 
of Charlemagne * 

Charlemagne was ever mindful of his common 
people. He knew that law and order were necessary 
for their welfare, and that peace and prosperity 
must prevail, wherever obedience to those above, 
and helpfulness to those below, govern every man's 
conduct. 

And these are the qualities that lie behind all the 
stirring stories of chivalry that, beginning with Charle- 
magne, brighten the history of Europe during the 
Middle Ages. Loyalty to superiors, protection and 



120 



MEDIEVAL EUKOPE 



kindness to all who are weak and in distress, always 
distinguished the brave knights of old. And to this 
day they are the motives that spur men on to heroic 
action. 

There were many brave gentlemen at Charle- 
magne's court, and countless stories are told of their 
gallantry and their prowess. Perhaps they are more 

fanciful than true, but 
that does not lessen 
their interest. Many 
of them are about 
Roland, also called 
Orlando, foremost 
among the heroes of 
Charlemagne. 

Here is the story of 
his first meeting with 
the great king : 

Roland's father had 
secretly wedded the 
sister of Charlemagne. 
When the monarch 
heard of this daring act, he was angry, and depriv- 
ing him of his property, banished both from the land. 
From place to place the pair wandered, forced to 
make their dwelling in caves. They were very poor, 
and their little son Roland, unaware of his noble 
birth, grew up with the peasant children. Charle- 
magne, on his way to Italy to help the Pope, was 
feasting one day by the public highway. Roland's 




TOWER OF CHARLEMAGNE. 



KOLAKD 121 

father was away, hunting. His wife and child, hid- 
den in a dark cave, were without food or fire. The 
hungry boy beheld the king's servingmen pass by, 
laden with rich viands, with fruits and wines for the 
royal table. 

Thinking only of his starving mother, he dashed 
in amongst them, snatched an armful, and rushed 
away. Charlemagne, who had seen the whole pro- 
ceeding and had noted the lordly bearing of the half- 
naked lad, ordered him to be pursued. The knights 
followed and found him, armed with a cudgel, awaiting 
them at the mouth of the cave. At their approach, 
his lady mother stepped forward and stayed his arm. 
Wrapping her ragged robe about her with the air of a 
princess, she revealed her identity to the astonished 
knights, calling each by name. Reverently kissing 
her hand, they hastened back to report to Charle- 
magne. Graciously he pardoned the past, and hence- 
forth Roland lived at court with his royal uncle and 
was educated as befitted his rank. 

He had scarcely been knighted when he overcame 
a gigantic Saracen in combat. As the foe lay dying 
he offered his ivory hilted sword, as was customary, 
to the victor. " Take it," he whispered ; " it is yours. 
Guard it well and treasure it, for it is Durenda, the 
wondrous blade which brave Hector wielded at the 
siege of Troy." 

Roland was a true knight, and never did he im- 
sheath the beautiful Durenda in a wrong cause. 
He drew it in many a good fight for Charlemagne. 



122 



MEDIAEVAL EUROPE 



And when at last he fell, battling at Roncesvalles 
for his king, he 

" Brake his gallant sword in twain 
Lest craven hand, or dastard deed, 
Its spotless sheen should stain." 



PETER THE HERMIT 



France, ?-1115 

In the story of Mohammed you read that the 
Arabs conquered Palestine. As long as they ruled 
in Jerusalem, the Christians were 
treated fairly well. Later, however, 
the Turks drove out the less barba- 
rous Arabs, and the newcomers op- 
pressed and persecuted the Christians. 
They desecrated the churches and ill- 
treated the pious pilgrims who, from 
all parts of Europe, came to pray at 
the Holy Sepulcher. When the pil- 
grims returned, they complained bit- 
terly to the Pope. He at once sent 
Peter the Hermit all through Europe, 
to bid the people go to Palestine 
and rescue the sacred tomb from the 
heathen. 

Peter's eloquence, and his loud denunciation of their 
neglect of the Saviour's grave, aroused all Europe, 




A KNIGHT OF THE 
FIRST CRUSADE. 



FREDERICK BARBAROSSA 123 

Like wildfire the enthusiasm spread. Men, women, 
even children, rich and poor alike, unwilling to wait 
for an army to be organized, eagerly started forth, 
some mounted, but most of them on foot. Across 
the continent they marched in a long, straggling line, 
suffering terrible privations and dying on the way by 
thousands. 

Presently the kings and emperors joined the move- 
ment. At the head of trained armies these rulers 
led the way to Palestine, and once more the Holy 
Land was the battleground in the eternal fight be- 
tween East and West. 

The Christian soldiers wore crosses fastened to 
their shoulders. Hence these wars became known in 
history as the Crusades. They continued for two 
hundred years, draining all Europe of its best 
strength, and hindering its progress in education and 
enlightenment. And all to no purpose ; for although 
the Christians captured Jerusalem, it was again 
taken by the Turks, and to this day it remains in 
their possession. 



FREDERICK BARBAROSSA 

Germany, 1123-1190 

Frederick, nicknamed Barbarossa because of his 
red beard, was but twenty-nine years old when he 
became emperor of Germany and of the Roman 
Empire. It was a vast and unruly realm, and only 



124 MEDIEVAL EUROPE 

a clear head and a strong arm might control it. But 
Frederick had both, and at the same time a warm 
heart for his common people. 

For many years he had trouble with the princes 
and kings who owed him allegiance, but who sought 
to throw it off that they might pursue, unpunished, 
their custom of robbing travelers on the highway, or 
neighbors whose lands or cattle they desired. In 
Italy the people were anxious to throw off the yoke 
of a foreign ruler. 

The young emperor had plenty to keep him busy. 
Whenever he was quelling disturbances in one land, 
trouble would spring up in the other. But he had a 
firm hand and a determined will ; he was, too, a 
clever statesman, who knew how to make use of per- 
suasion and concession, when the outcome of war 
was uncertain. 

In this manner he won the allegiance of Austria, 
Hungary, Bohemia, Burgundy, and the Italian 
states. He w r as a good Catholic, but he had many 
long and bitter struggles with the church. Hith- 
erto the Popes had interfered with the power of the 
kings and emperors for the benefit of the church. 
Frederick felt, and taught his subjects to feel, that 
although they owed implicit obedience to the Pope in 
all religious matters, yet in affairs of state the inter- 
ests of the fatherland must ever rank highest. 

This was a daring stand to take, and it plunged 
the Emperor into many difficulties. But it secured 
that whole-souled devotion of the prople to their 



FREDERICK BARBAROSSA 



125 



country without which no state can exist. Eventu- 
ally the Pope and the Emperor became friendly once 
more, and an era of peace and prosperity ruled in 
Europe. The people were contented and happy, and 
regarded their emperor with loyalty and love. He 
had succeeded because of his untiring energy and 
watchfulness, his gentle bearing, and his lion-like 
courage. 

He was sixty-five years old when news came of the 
triumphs of the Saracens over the Christians in the 




CRUSADERS IN THE HOLY LAND. 



Holy Land. Instantly the brave old man drew his 
sword and joined the Third Crusade. Travel in those 
days was no easy matter, and while crossing a river 
the emperor was drowned. He was then close to the 
Holy Land, and w^as buried in Antioch. 

His sorrowing subjects refused to credit the sad 
tidings. Thev could not believe that their red- 
bearded giant w r as no more. 



126 MEDIEVAL EUROPE 

Indeed, the little children in his land still repeat 
the legend of the great king who sits in his lonely 
cave in the Kyfhausen mountains, awaiting the hour 
when Germany shall have need of his strong arm. 
And so long has he sat there, keeping his silent vigil, 
that his fiery beard has grown quite through the 
stone table on which his mighty head rests in dream- 
less sleep. At least so runs the story, and all the 
little folks believe it. 



RIENZI 



Rome, 1313-1354 



In" the middle of the fourteenth century, neither 
pope nor emperor dwelt within the seven hills of 
Rome. The city lay at the mercy of the barons who, 
from their fortified castles outside the town, claimed 
toll from all who passed their way. Citizen and serf, 
pilgrim and traveler, all were forced to pay them 
tribute. 

Within the city lived a young man of strong liter- 
ary tastes, named Rienzi. He was of an enthusias- 
tic nature, and noting the sharp contrast between the 
glorious past of Rome and her inglorious present, 
he sought to reawaken the old Roman spirit. He es- 
poused the cause of the widow and orphan, and of the 
down-trodden everywhere. He won over the populace 
to his ideas and urged them to insurrection. A corn- 



RIENZI 127 

mittee was appointed to rule the city, and Rienzi was 
sent to Avignon to invite the Pope to dwell once 
again in Rome. 

The Pope refused. Disturbances followed, and 
Rienzi, seizing all private property, distributed it 
amongst the poor, according to a new constitution 
that he gave them. They made him Tribune, and 
declared him subject only to the Pope. The Senate 
was expelled, and the barons, fearing they would be 
driven from their castles, and uneasy at the immense 
power in the hands of Rienzi, made haste to show 
their good will. They readily swore to protect the 
poor and to police the roads from bandits, and then 
they returned to their strongholds to pillage as before. 

But by this time Rienzi's head had been turned by 
success. He adopted the manner and dress of roy- 
alty, and he spent his days in feasting and in riding 
through the town in state. This antagonized the 
Romans, and the barons were quick to turn Rienzi's 
foolish conduct to good account. They accused him 
of selfish ambition and Rienzi pleaded his cause in 
vain. He therefore abdicated his office and left 
Rome. 

Later he returned, and having regained his influ- 
ence, was made a senator. Angered at a tax the 
Senate had imposed upon them, the mob attacked 
Rienzi and killed him, as their ancestors in the olden 
days had killed the Gracchi. 

Rienzi's purpose was high and noble, but the peo- 
ple, unlike the stern old Romans, were not fit for 



128 MEDIAEVAL EUKOPE 

self-government. Had they been willing to assume 
the duties, as well as the glory, of citizenship in a 
republic, the new Rome would not have fallen with 
him who had called it into existence. 



EDWARD THE BLACK PRINCE 

England, 1330-1370 

The Crusades showed Europe that the English in 
their island home had developed into a powerful peo- 
ple whose knights were unsurpassed in courtesy, in 
courage, or in honor. This was important knowledge, 
for in those days the outcome of a battle hung upon 
the superior strength and skill of the knights. Pres- 
ently w r e shall see how England's youthful Black 
Prince was to set a new example in warfare. 

France and England were fighting, by land and 
sea, in a war that lasted for a hundred years. 

Edward III., king of England, anxious to train his 
son to be a worthy king, had left him to manage 
home affairs while he himself was fighting in FrancQ. 
But when the lad was sixteen years of age he made 
him Prince of Wales, and allowed him to accompany 
him to France. At Crecy the two armies met. The 
French outnumbered the English, but Edward III. 
withdrew T , leaving his son, called '" The Black Prince," 
in charge. Presently word was brought that the 
prince was hard pressed. 



EDWARD THE BLACK PRINCE 129 

"Is he killed ? " asked the King. 

" No, Sire." 

u Or wounded ? " 

" No, Sire." 

" Or unhorsed ? " 

" No, Sire." 

" Then go back and say I shall send no aid. My 
son must this day prove himself a brave knight, and 
the honor of the victory shall be his." 

But the Black Prince needed no such message. 
With the cry : " Advance, English banners, in the 
name of God and St. George ! " he led his trusty yeo- 
men forward, and sweeping all before them, gained 
the field. It had been a brave fight and it marked a 
turning point in the world's history. Not alone 
because artillery was used for the first time at Crecy, 
but because there, for the first time, the ordinary 
soldier had shown himself the equal, man for man, 
of the noble knight in endurance and in valor. The 
victory at Crecy was really due to him, whom we of 
to-day call " the man behind the gun." It taught 
England and the rest of Europe the true value of the 
commoner. Furthermore, it taught the commoner 
self-reliance and independence ; and it gave him a 
sense of his own rights, and of his power to enforce 
them. 

In the following year the Black Prince, at the 
head of 8,000 men, met the French army, numbering 
60,000 men, at Poitiers. The odds were heavy and 
the prince, prudent and thoughtful of his men, offered 



ISO MEDIAEVAL EUBOPE 

to surrender on honorable terms. The offer was re- 
jected in scorn. The English accordingly fought 
with desperate ferocity and won the field. The 
French king was taken prisoner, and though treated 
courteously as became his station, he was carried 
captive to London. 

Edward III. ruled for a long period, and before 
his death the Black Prince fell ill and passed away, 
mourned by all England. 

He was a great warrior and throughout his career 
he upheld the glory and the honor of knighthood. 
But it was not his chivalry, nor yet his victories by 
land and sea, that made the name of the Black 
Prince immortal. Little more than a boy, he was 
the first to appeal to the manhood and to the honor 
of the English churl ; and doing that, he laid the 
real cornerstone of the mighty empire over whose 
possessions the sunlight never wanes. 



JOAN OF ARC 

France, 1412-1431 

The story of this brave maiden is perfectly true, 
but it reads like a fairy tale. She was only a 
peasant girl, unschooled and unfamiliar with the 
world. Yet, simply by doing what she felt to be 
her duty, she saved France from becoming a depen- 
dency of England. 



JOAN OF ARC 



131 




m 







JOAN OF ARC. 



132 MEDIEVAL EUBOPE 

The king of France was dead. The Dauphin, as 
the French called the king's eldest son, was the 
rightful heir to the throne. But the English claimed 
it for their king, and landing their armies in France, 
seized most of its large cities. The Dauphin was 
helpless, and it seemed as if nothing but a miracle 
could save France. 

The peasants whose farms were pillaged and burnt, 
and whose cattle were stolen or killed by the English 
soldiers, suffered terribly. Presently they began to 
speak in whispers of an old prophecy which foretold 
that in her greatest need France should be saved by 
a woman. 

In the country village of Domremy there lived a. 
little girl named Joan (Jeanne) who took care of her 
father s sheep. Possibly these whispers reached her. 
However this may be, sitting alone in the quiet field 
watching the sheep, this girl heard Voices telling 
her to arise and save France. 

When she told her father he laughed at her, 
and finally scolded her sharply for what he called 
her nonsense. For a long time Joan tried to shut her 
ears to these Voices. But when they implored her 
most piteously to " hasten, hasten ! " she arose and 
made her way to the Dauphin, accompanied only by 
an uncle. 

At first the prince paid no attention to her. 
Finally, however, probably because he felt that she 
could not make things worse, he accepted her offer 
of help. 



JOAN" OF AEC 133 

Placing her at the head of a body of men, he sent 
her with food and ammunition to relieve the besieged 
city of Orleans. It was completely surrounded by 
English soldiers, to whom it was about to surrender. 
Joan managed to enter the city, and encouraging its 
defenders to make a stronger fight, forced the be- 
siegers to withdraw within ten days after her arrival. 

Inspired by their girl leader, the French soldiers 
won victory after victory. Joan now persuaded the 
Dauphin to have himself crowned. 

This was a great step, for in those days people 
considered that the solemn act of coronation proved 
a man's right to the throne, and made him the 
actual king. Side by side with the Dauphin she 
entered Kheims, the ancient capital of France, aM 
saw the crown placed upon his head. 

Her work was now done. The French king was 
on his throne. She begged to be permitted to go 
back to her father and her quiet home. But the 
king refused to let her depart. Her Voices Avarned 
her that she was about to die. 

Once more she led the French forces against the 
foe, bent on expelling the last English soldier from 
the soil of France. 

Shortly afterward she was taken prisoner in battle 
by some French soldiers opposed to the king. To 
their shame, be it said, they sold her to the English 
for money. These condemned her to be burnt alive, 
and the cruel sentence was executed on the 30th of 
May, 1431. 



134 



MEDIAEVAL EUKOPE 



MARCO POLO 



Venice, 1253-1323 



Marco Polo was born in Venice, and lost his 
mother while very young. His father was a great 
merchant, and his business carried him as far East 
as Tartary. He took the boy Marco with him on 
one of these journeys. The Grand Khan (chief 
ruler) of Tartary was pleased with the child, and 
begged the father's permission to educate him at his 

court. Marco remained with 
the Grand Khan for seven- 
teen years, While there he 
learned to speak in many lan- 
guages, and traveled through- 
out Asia in the interest of 
the Grand Khan. He visited 
India, Ceylon, China, and Bor- 
neo, and made plentiful notes 
of all that he saw. 
Then he returned to Europe to visit his native 
Venice. This chanced to be at a time when the 
city was at war with a neighbor. His ship was 
captured, and he was sent as a prisoner of war to 
Genoa. There he published his travels in book form, 
and by doing so, unrolled to the eyes of the Western 
world, pictures of Eastern splendor rivaling that of 
Darius and of Sardanapalus. 




MARCO POLO. 



VASCO DA GAMA 135 

People believed only half of what he told them, 
yet tha-t half induced many young men to visit these 
wonderful places, to behold with their own eyes the 
marvels which Marco Polo described. Venice and 
Genoa and Portugal possessed many good ships and 
hardy mariners. Their rulers were eager to find new 
avenues of wealth, and they gladly encouraged the 
newly awakened spirit of adventure. 

Like the Argonauts of old, men now set forth 
over the unknown seas, and with Marco Polo's maps 
to guide them, began that era of exploration that 
finally led Columbus to discover America. 



VASCO DA GAMA 

Portugal, 1450-1524 

Many were the explorers, and nearly as many the 
paths they followed, in their attempts to reach that 
wonderful East which Marco Polo's great book de- 
scribed. The first expedition to be crowned with suc- 
cess was that led by Vasco da Gaina, whom the Portu- 
guese king sent out with four small vessels in 1497. 

His course carried him down the western coast of 
Africa and around the Cape of Good Hope, which had 
long been considered impassable. Vasco da Gama 
was one of the first to double this distant point. His 
ships sailed northward along unfamiliar coasts and 
landed at Mozambique. 




136 MEDIEVAL EUROPE 

Da Gama was now sure that he was on the right 
track, for all around him he saw the jewels, the 
raiment, and the rich stuffs of the Orient. 

When the natives discovered 
that the newcomers were Chris- 
tians, they tried to kill them. 
But Da Gama and his men, es- 
caping, sailed away and touched 
at every city they passed, mak- 
ing friendly compacts with the 
Africans wherever they could. 
Crossing the Indian Ocean, 

VASCO DA GAMA. ., n -,-, -. -, -. ^ -. . 

they finally landed at Calicut. 
There Da Gama established a trading-post in spite 
of the fierce opposition of the Arabs. These had 
hitherto been the only traders with the far East, and 
they were not willing to let Europeans share their 
profits. But Da Gama succeeded in arranging a com- 
mercial treaty with the king for the benefit of the 
Portuguese merchants. 

Some time after this he made a second voyage, and 
planted other Portuguese trading-posts, strengthening 
them with forts. 

Portugal was the tiniest kingdom in all Europe ; 
but the daring of its mariners and their repeated 
victories over the hostile Moors and Arabs, made her 
name world-renowned, and filled her treasury with 
untold wealth. 



MODERN EUROPE 



GALILEO 

Italy, 1564-1642 



In the city of Pisa there is a marvelous leaning 
tower, and also a beautiful cathedral. Both are 
closely connected with the story of Galileo, the man 
who first made practical use of the telescope and who 
perfected the thermometer. 

As a boy, Galileo spent his play time making toy 
machines that would go. He had a pretty hard 
time of it without money to pay for either tools or 
materials ; but he succeeded, as every one else suc- 
ceeds, who patiently persists in whatever he wants to 
do, no matter what hinders him. 

His father was poor, but because the boy had 
shown a brilliant mind, he sent him to college to 
study medicine. There Galileo accidentally overheard 
a lecture on mathematics. It fascinated him so that 
he determined to study it himself. Later, because 
of his poverty, he had to leave college ; but he gave 
private lessons in his favorite study, and succeeded 
so well that the university offered him a professor- 
ship. He now had time to study, and working day 

137 



138 



MODEEIST EUKOPE 



and night, he discovered the falsity of the accepted 
idea of the motion of bodies. He proved his theon 7 
to the world, using the leaning tower in many of his 
experiments. 

But the church authorities, when they read his 
books, denounced him as an enemy, mistakenly be- 




lieving that he in- 
sulted the Scriptures 
when he denied that 
the earth was the cen- 
ter of the universe, 
and claimed that instead of the sun and stars moving 
around the earth, it was just the opposite way, and 
day and night were caused by the earth revolving on 
its axis. 

The splendid reply he made to their charges, its 



GALILEO 139 

clear logic and biting sarcasm, only made matters 
worse. He was put in prison and, under threats of 
torture, forced to take back all that he had said. 

But he had been bold enough and brave enough to 
speak the truth as he saw it, and other thinkers, 
for whom he blazed the way, have shown that he 
was right. 

It is said that even after he had been forced to 
deny the truth of his theory he would not give up, 
but stamping his foot upon the earth he exclaimed, 
u And yet it does move ! " 

The telescope which Galileo made was simply the 
opera glass we use to-day; but with his wonderful 
head for figures and with his thoughtful mind, it 
helped him . to discover the true motions of the 
heavenly bodies. 

In the Cathedral of Pisa, there hangs a great 
bronze lamp which, after the sexton lights it, still 
swings back and forth just as it did in Galileo's time. 
Thousands of others had watched it, of course ; but 
Galileo was the first to notice that, whether the arc 
was long or short, the swinging lamp always covered 
the distance in the same time. He proved this by 
timing it with his own pulse beats. 

It seemed strange ; and Galileo, always seeking 
the "why" of things, sought for the law that gov- 
erned its motion. Having discovered it, he con- 
structed the pendulum, by means of which clocks 
measure time for us with perfect accuracy. 



140 MODERN EUROPE 



WILLIAM THE SILENT 

Holland, 1533-1584 



William, Prince of Orange, was a very young 
man when he became stadthalter (governor) of the 
Netherlands (now Belgium and Holland), under 
Philip, king of Spain. Many of the Hollanders were 
Protestants. This displeased the Spanish king, who 
wanted all his subjects to worship as he did. He 
imagined that if he killed all the Protestants, and 
established the Inquisition in Holland, it would surely 
put a stop to the spread of what he felt was wicked 
" unbelief." 

The French king knew of this plan and confided it 
to the Stadthalter. William was horrified, but he 
made no comment. He would never permit such a 
thing in the country he governed, but it was best to 
keep his own counsel for the present, and thus learn 
every detail of the plot. It was his self-control 
on this occasion that won him the title of " The 
Silent." 

The Spanish king was prevented from murdering 
the people he had sworn to protect, but awful 
scenes of cruelty occurred every day. Protestants 
and Catholics were constantly quarreling, and reli- 
gious persecutions made life in Holland most unhappy. 
Presently Spanish troops were ordered to quell the 
disturbances. Burning, pillaging, and murdering 



WILLIAM THE SILENT 



141 




WILLIAM THE SILENT. 



wherever they went, these soldiers roused the brave 
Dutch to fury. 

Headed by William the Silent, whom they would 
have made king had he consented to it, Holland 
now issued a declaration 
of independence, an act 
of tremendous daring 
when directed against 
mighty Spain. The 
anger of Philip rose to 
fever heat, and he or- 
dered his generals to 
give no mercy to the 
rebels. Awful was the 
suffering in the besieged 
cities, and numerous the acts of heroism displayed by 
the brave Hollanders, but they could not drive out 
the Spaniards. Finally, as a last recourse, they 
turned to -the ocean itself for aid, though it entailed 
a heavy sacrifice. The wealth of the Dutchmen lay 
in the green fields they had reclaimed with much 
labor from the sea. But rather ruin these, the burgh- 
ers said, than submit to the Spanish tyrant. So 
they opened the dikes that protected their land, and 
the ocean rushing in, put their oppressors to flight. 

It was an almost hopeless struggle that the Dutch 
waged for independence, but they won at last, and 
the beloved " Father William," w r ho led them, is to 
all Holland what our Washington is to us. 

The fierce and cruel Philip now offered the richest 



142 MODEBN EUROPE 

rewards to any one who would kill the stadthalter. 
Many attempts were made upon his lif e, and finally a 
dastard, whom the prince had befriended, shot him 
dead. 

William the Silent gave every hour of his life, 
every piece of gold he possessed, to establish the 
Dutch Republic, and it flourished for more than two 
centuries after his death. Under his able descendants 
it grew to be the first naval power in the world, 
with rich colonies in every quarter of the globe. 

" As long as he lived," says Motley the historian, 
" he was the guiding-star of a whole nation, and 
when he died the little children cried in the streets." 



GUSTAVUS ADOLPHUS 

Sweden, 1594-1632 

A backward glance at the history of Europe shows 
it to have been engaged in wars almost constantly. 
Many were its battlefields, but never since the days 
of the fierce Attila, was there more horrible carnage 
than in the Thirty Years' War that raged in Ger- 
many during the first half of the seventeenth century. 

Whenever victory meant the surrender of a city, 
its inhabitants, even the women and children, were 
killed amid scenes of unspeakable cruelty. The sol- 
diers robbed and burned as they chose, this being 
considered, at that time, the privilege of the victor. 



GUSTAVUS ADOLPHUS 143 

The Thirty Years' War arose out of the dissensions 
between the Catholics and the Protestants. Those 
who were in power sought to force the others to their 
belief; and the spirit of personal freedom , that grew 
ever stronger as the common people realized their 
importance to the nation, made war the natural out- 
come. 

To the north of Germany, where the quarreling 
was the fiercest, lay Sweden, whose people were stanch 
Protestants. Their king, Augustus Adolphus, was a 
member of the Protestant League and bound to aid 
the Protestant cause. He mustered a small army 
and entering Germany, offered to help the people of 
his faith. When news of his arrival reached the 
German emperor, who was at the head of the Catholic 
party, he laughed at u the little snow king whom he 
would speedily melt with his hot fire." 

But "the little snow king" was a man of vast 
energy and great military skill. His indomitable will 
allowed nothing to hinder his advance. He won bat- 
tle after battle, sweeping through Germany like an 
avalanche out of his own North, and defeating its 
greatest generals. He was idolized by his army, 
which new recruits made larger and more powerful 
day by day. 

The gallant soldier lost his life in a furious attack 
on the imperial army as, sword in hand, he led his 
men forward. But revenge for his untimely death 
spurred his men to win new victories and the cruel 
war ended the sooner for it. 



144 MODERN EUROPE 

Germany, on whose soil the long and bloody war 
had been fought, had lost more than two thirds of 
her population. She was utterly exhausted and her 
people cried out incessantly for peace. In order to 
obtain it, the humiliated emperor was obliged to 
yield up some of his fairest provinces, and to grant 
almost complete independence to the German princes. 
He was forced to give the highest powers to the 
Reichstag (Parliament), and to place Protestants and 
Catholics upon an equal footing. 

These last two concessions were a great step for- 
ward in the progress of Europe toward liberty of 
thought and of belief. And they stand as a lasting 
monument to the memory of the brave Gustavus 
Adolphus, whose personal heroism and great military 
skill did so much to gain them. 



PETER THE GREAT 

Russia, 1672-1726 

A little more than two hundred years ago a 
lad of seventeen found himself the ruler of a vast 
empire, with a court splendid as any described in the 
Arabian Nights. The nobles, robed in velvets and 
priceless furs, and sparkling with magnificent jewels, 
spent their days in hunting and feasting. But the 
young Czar grew restless amid this idleness and luxury. 
In his early boyhood he had been fond of mechanics. 



PETER THE GREAT 



145 



Some of the foreign workmen then in Moscow had 
taught him to make locks and hinges and to build 
boats. They had told him fascinating stories, over 
the work, of life in other countries, and now that 
he was his own master, he determined to see it for 
himself. 

Going to Holland he worked for some time in the 
dock yards as a common laborer. When he had won 
a certificate for proficiency, he w r ent to England. In- 
stead of traveling about he worked at ship-building 
until he mastered the trade. 
All the while, you may be 
sure, he was closely observ- 
ing the life of the people. 

Called home by a rebellion 
among the nobles, who in 
his absence tried to steal his 
throne, he quickly crushed 
the uprising, cruelly punish- 
ing the guilty. 

Travel had taught him how 
far behind other countries his Russia was in civiliza- 
tion, and how completely she was ignored by the rest 
of Europe. The people were wholly Asiatic in dress, 
in customs, and in self-satisfaction. He determined 
to make them European, whether they liked it or 
not. By his indomitable will he instituted a hun- 
dred radical reforms. 

He compelled the idle nobles to serve the state 
in civil or in military capacity. He regulated traffic. 




PETER THE GREAT. 



146 MODERN EUEOPE 

and, building ships on the Baltic shores which he 
forced Sweden to yield up to him, he established 
commerce. He turned his back upon the ancient 
capital Moscow, and built a modern one, calling it 
St. Petersburg. He opened libraries, art-galleries, 
and museums to encourage education. He organized 
an army and navy, and disciplined them by European 
methods. By waging successful wars he extended 
his territory northward and eastward. 

Only an Eastern despot gifted with Western 
genius, can bring about so swift and complete a 
revolution. But such was Peter, and to attain his 
end no task was too great, no sacrifice too prodigious. 

He raised his country out of obscurity; he com- 
pelled all Europe to respect her ; and he laid the 
foundations that made Russia a formidable world 
power. Do you wonder they called him Peter the 
Great ? 



FREDERICK THE GREAT 

Germany, 1712-1786 

The little Prussian crown prince, who afterward 
became famous as Frederick the Great, had a most 
unhappy childhood. His father was a fierce-tempered 
man who hated everything that savored of culture 
or refinement. His children fled from his presence 
in fear of his brutal blows. The little Frederick 
suffered most for showing this fear. His father 



FREDERICK THE GREAT 



147 



became furious at what he deemed his cowardice and 
sought to beat it out of him. So harsh was his 
manner of punishment, that on one occasion only the 
interference of a servant saved him from choking 
the lad to death. 

The son's tastes were very different. He loved 
music and books. But since he might enjoy these 
only in secret, he naturally took deceitful means to 
attain his desires. The few books he found scoffed 
at religion and morality. Denied every pleasure, 
and forced to spend long hours listening to sermons 
he could not understand, he 
grew to manhood hating his 
father, his religion, and re- 
straint of any kind. 

But he was of the Hohen- 
zollern blood, and when he 
became king he remained 
true to the strongest prin- 
ciple of his house, loyalty to 
Prussia and her interests. 
His unfortunate lack of 
proper training led him to 
seize territory in ways not always fair. But although 
this plunged his country into long and bloody w r ars, 
these were successful, and in the end Prussia was 
the gainer by them. 

Frederick was equally watchful over the internal 
affairs of his kingdom. Every year he traveled 
through his dominions, upholding the cause of 




FREDERICK THE GREAT. 



148 MODERN EUROPE 

justice ; establishing schools ; encouraging farmers 
and tradespeople, and fostering literature. He was 
always ready to listen to a grievance and to right 
the wrongs of the poor. 

One of his favorite sayings was, " It is not neces- 
sary that I should live ; but it is necessary that 
whilst I live, I be busy." And it was due as much 
to his attention to the details of his government 
and the welfare of his common people, as to his 
military successes, that he raised Prussia from an 
insignificant state, to a kingdom as powerful as 
England, France, or Austria. 

His conquests gave him the title of "the Great/' 
But his subjects fondly called him " Unser Fritz" 
(our Fred). He was gifted with great force of 
character. Had his father understood how to shape 
it properly, Germany might not have had to wait 
two centuries longer to become again an empire 
mighty as that ruled by the other Frederick whom 
they nicknamed " Barbarossa." 



THE FRENCH REVOLUTION 

France, 1789-93 

Duking the eighteenth century the kings of France 
expended large sums of money for feasting and other 
pleasures. The nobility gladly imitated their example. 
In order to pay for all these fine times at court and 



THE FRENCH REVOLUTION 



149 




150 MODERN EUROPE 

in the palaces, the common people were heavily 
taxed. Very naturally they began to hate those rich 
people who enjoyed themselves at the cost of the 
starving peasants. 

The king, Louis XVI., was in some respects a good 
man. He loved his people, and earnestly tried to 
better their condition. But to right such wrongs as 
the French were suffering, required a man of greater 
energy and will power than he possessed. 

He discovered that the treasury had been robbed 
and that there was no money to pay the expenses of 
the court and of the government. He begged the 
rich clergy and the nobles to come to his aid, and 
when these refused, he called an Assembly of the 
people to decide what to do. 

This Assembly proposed to give France a new con- 
stitution. But before this could be drawn up, it con- 
fiscated the wealth of the church and it abolished the 
titles and the privileges of the nobility. The people 
grew wild with excitement over these changes and 
began to kill the nobles and to pillage their palaces. 
In Paris they even attacked the king's palace and 
imprisoned the whole royal family. 

Germany and Austria now interfered, and the 
people, mad with anger, put many of the great nobles 
to death and, after a strange sort of trial, sent the king 
and queen to the guillotine. Both met their end 
bravely. They were personally innocent of wrong- 
doing, and their death was cruel murder. 

But the people had been oppressed, and in their 



NAPOLEON BONAPARTE 151 

wild desire to be free they went to brutal extremes. 
They did not realize that killing the king and 
queen would never set their wrongs right ; nor did 
they know that the liberty, the equality, and the 
brotherhood of man, which their leaders promised 
them, can come only through fair laws, justly admin- 
istered and implicitly obeyed. 



NAPOLEON BONAPARTE 

France, 1769-1821 

After the death of Louis XVI. and his queen, the 
French people declared for a Republic. Different 
parties sought to control it, and civil war followed. 
Austria, Spain, England, Prussia, and Italy now inter- 
fered. They claimed that this was merely to restore 
order, but it was really because each thought it a good 
chance to seize a slice of French territory. 

A Committee of Public Safety directed affairs and 
controlled the armies. It had plenty to do trying to 
restore peace within and to repel invaders from with- 
out. Under such conditions military skill is likely 
to be appreciated. 

Napoleon Bonaparte, a young soldier from Corsica, 
had opportunity to show his genius for war and was 
soon at the head of an army. The men had not been 
paid, and were barefoot and starving. Encouraging 
them with the prospect of rich plunder, as did the 



152 



MODERN EUROPE 



earlier conquerors, Bonaparte led them southward 
and compelled the king of Italy to agree to a peace. 
Without waiting for authority from the Committee 
of Safety, he quickly proceeded to do the same with 
the rest of the foreign enemies, conquering them in 
battle if they refused to treat with him and grant his 
demands. 

Conduct like this was an unheard-of piece of dar- 
ing. But the young general was so successful and 

sent home so much money, ex- 
acted from the foes he had de- 
feated , that those in authority 
dared not recall him. Instead, 
they rewarded him ; first, by mak- 
ing him one of three consuls to 
control public affairs, and then 
Consul for life. 

Peace and prosperity followed, 
and the grateful people, after 
changing their constitution, elec- 
ted him Emperor of the French, 
with the office hereditary in his 
family. 

Napoleon, as he must now be 
called, was dazzled by his own 
greatness. Like many another great conqueror, he 
dreamed of making his empire the largest in the world. 
He won victory after victory, fighting Austria, Prussia, 
and the smaller German states. 

He married the daughter of the haughty Austrian 




NAPOLEON BONAPARTE. 



NAPOLEON BONAPARTE 153 

Emperor. He made France the strongest power in 
the world, and he longed to make his empire as great 
as that of Charlemagne. He invaded Russia, and in 
doing so, encountered his first defeat. His magnifi- 
cent army was conquered, not in battle, nor by man, 
but by the awful hardships of a Russian winter of 
unusual severity. 

Napoleon returned with only a handful of men, but 
he speedily raised another army and again attacked 
his enemies. He was victorious on many battlefields ; 
but it was an exhausting struggle, and in the famous 
battle at Waterloo he was finally overwhelmed by the 
united armies of England, Prussia, Austria, Sweden, 
and Russia, and forced to surrender. 

Fearing that if Napoleon were set at liberty he 
might gather new armies and regain his power, the 
allies sent their imperial prisoner to St. Helena, a 
small island in the Atlantic Ocean. There he was 
closely guarded until his death, six years later, in 
1821. 

The battle of Waterloo restored the map of Europe 
to what it had been before Napoleon's sword had laid 
its kingdoms at his feet, and it ended the wars into 
which his unbridled ambition had plunged the civil- 
ized world. 

These wars were most disastrous, but they taught 
the European nations many valuable lessons, not the 
least of which is their need for united action in the 
face of a common danger. 



154 



MODERN EUROPE 



GIUSEPPE GARIBALDI 



Italy, 1807-1882 

In the middle of the nineteenth century all Europe 
awoke to a longing for liberty. At that time Italy 
consisted of several states governed partly by France, 
partly by the Pope, and partly by Austria. The 

people who lived in them 
felt that Italy should be 
for the Italians only. 
They wanted to be united 
under one government, 
and freed from foreign 
control. 

Many years before. 
Garibaldi who, like a 
knight of old, was al- 
ways seeking to help the 
oppressed, had engaged in an unsuccessful uprising 
in Italy, and had been banished. He went to Mexico 
and won much glory there fighting for Mexican 
freedom. He was living quietly in New York when 
news reached him of the Italian struggle to throw 
off foreign control. Instantly he departed for his 
old home and joined King Victor Emmanuel, who 
had already freed Northern Italy. 

Garibaldi was a man who won people's hearts as 
well as battles. He went to Southern Italy and 




GIUSEPPE GARIBALDI. 



GIUSEPPE GARIBALDI 155 

quickly gained it over to the king. Although he 
personally preferred an Italian republic, he rejoiced 
with the rest when, in 1861, the first Italian Parlia- 
ment greeted Victor Emmanuel, king of a United 
Italy under a constitutional government. 

Only the Papal states remained under foreign con- 
trol. The French army held them for the Pope. The 
king, bound by a treaty of peace, was negotiating for 
their evacuation when Garibaldi, the Impetuous, sud- 
denly attacked the French soldiers. He was defeated 
and was imprisoned by the king. 

All Italy murmured at this indignity to their idol ; 
at the royal ingratitude toward the man who had 
won Southern Italy to his cause. 

It was a hard position for the king, but he bravely 
stood at his post. Garibaldi had dared, unauthor- 
ized, to make war in time of peace. Undoubt- 
edly he had been in the wrong, and deserved to be 
punished. 

No character in modern history is more picturesque 
than Garibaldi. Hating oppression, his sworcl was 
ever ready to strike a blow for freedom. He had 
helped to build the Mexican Republic ; he had helped 
to build a United Italy; and in 1870, when the glit- 
tering French empire was overthrown, Garibaldi hur- 
ried to # F ranee and helped to build the new republic 
which still exists. 

When peace was restored, Garibaldi returned to 
Italy again, and became an honored member of the 
Italian Parliament. 



156 MODERN EUROPE 



LOUIS KOSSUTH 

Hungary, 1802-1894 

The people of modern Hungary were prominent in 
the struggle for liberty that shook Europe during the 
last century. 

Their leaders were daring enough, but since it was 
a prison offense to print their revolutionary speeches, 
they were unable to arouse the people who lived in 
the country far away from cities. 

Kossuth, a young lawyer, found a very clever way 
out of the difficulty. Written newspapers were not 
forbidden. So with his own hand he wrote stirring 
appeals to the people, and sent them broadcast over 
the land in manuscript newspapers. 

He pleaded for liberty of thought and speech ; for 
equal rights for all ; for schools for the poor ; and 
for a Hungarian nationality. He clothed his argu- 
ments in clear, forceful language. Sparkling with 
wit and sarcasm, they gave his written newspaper a 
tremendous influence. 

Austria tried to bribe him to be silent by offering 
him a high office. But though he was very poor and 
the only support of his parents, he refused indig- 
nantly. He was arrested and put in an underground 
prison cell. It quieted him only for a time, for as soon 
as released he went on with the revolutionary work. 



LOUIS KOSSUTH 157 

His popularity won him a seat in the Diet (Parlia- 
ment), and gave him greater opportunity to help 
the cause. By means of his wonderful oratory, 
he was able to secure for the people a constitution 
that assured them full liberty. He had won a glo- 
rious revolution that would have been bloodless, had 
not the Austrian regiments, stationed in Hungary, 
interfered. 

The Hungarian patriots quickly raised an army 
of defense, and driving the Austrian soldiers from 
the land, showed a watching world that they were 
ready to defend their constitution and their liberty 
at any cost. 

But Kossuth was not satisfied. He longed to see 
Hungary sever the bond that united her to Austria, 
and declare herself an independent state. Austria 
would not permit this step, and calling Russia to her 
aid, the combined armies overpowered the Hunga- 
rians and forced them to capitulate. Kossuth had to 
flee for his life. He went to England and then to 
America and in these countries continued to labor 
for his fatherland. For many years he lived in exile, 
but his influence continued to be felt in his native 
land. 

Later Hungary regained her constitutional rights 
and became an honored partner in the dual empire 
of Austria-Hungary. Her liberty is now firmly es- 
tablished, and the memory of the great patriot, Louis 
Kossuth, will live forever in the hearts of his country- 
men. 



158 MODERN EUROPE 



OTTO VON BISMARCK 

Germany, 1815-1898 

When Bismarck was called to be Chancellor (head 
of affairs) in Prussia, he determined to make her a 
strong military power. " Blood and iron/' he was 
wont to say, were needed to end the troubles he 
foresaw were close at hand with Austria. When the 
inevitable war came, Bismarck had Prussia ready, and 
after only seven weeks of fighting, Austria was hope- 
lessly defeated. 

The terms of peace gave Prussia much new terri- 
tory, and forced Austria to withdraw forever from 
any interference in German affairs. 

Bismarck's next step was to unite the separate 
German states into a strong confederation with the 
King of Prussia as its hereditary President. A 
Reichstag (Parliament) controlled its affairs. As a 
measure of defense, military service was made com- 
pulsory throughout the whole confederation. 

Presently there occurred a revolution in Spain, 
and the people were looking for a new king. They 
offered the vacant throne to a member of the Prus- 
sian royal house. This roused the anger of France, 
which, since Napoleon's downfall, had been in turn a 
kingdom and a republic, and was now an empire 
ruled by another Napoleon. The French emperor, 
jealous of any increase of Prussian power, demanded 



OTTO VOX BISMARCK 



J5W 



IIBm' 




of William, king of Prussia, — and not very respect- 
fully, — that he forbid his relative to accept the 
Spanish crown. William refused. Napoleon replied 
with a declaration of war. 

And now the far-seeing policy of Bismarck that 
had formed the Confederation, that had given it a 
powerful head, 
and that had 
developed for 
it a perfect 
military sys- 
tem, stood Ger- 
many in good 
stead. As one 
nation the sep- 
arate states re- 
sponded to Na- 
poleon's chal- 
lenge, and so 
promptly, that 
while the 
French sol- 
diers were en- 
thusiastically preparing to march upon Berlin, the 
Germans had already invaded their territory. 

Instead of marching to conquest, France saw her- 
self forced to fight upon her own soil. Her soldiers 
showed conspicuous courage, but they were over- 
mastered by the perfect discipline and the skilled 
leadership of the German army. 



BISMARCK. 






160 MODERN EUROPE 

The first engagement occurred on August 3, 1870. 
On the 1st of September the imperial armies were 
completely surrounded, and Napoleon III., absolutely 
helpless, surrendered to the conqueror. The Empire 
fell to the ground ; and on the 4th of September, 
1870, a Republic was again proclaimed in Paris. 

The Germans, after the capitulation of the em- 
peror, rapidly defeated the armies that now opposed 
them in the name of the Republic, and completely 
surrounded Paris. Bravely the city held out, but 
starvation forced it to surrender. The war was now 
at an end, and France had to yield to Prussia the 
beautiful Rhine provinces of Alsace and Lorraine, 
and pay her an enormous sum of money to defray 
the expenses of the war. 

With the full consent of every state in the Con- 
federation, William, King of Prussia, was crowned 
Emperor of Germany, in the magnificent Hall of 
Mirrors, in the French city of Versailles. 

For six centuries the once powerful German Empire 
had been as dead. It remained for Bismarck's genius, 
his patriotism, his untiring energy, and his iron will, 
to revive its dimmed glory and make it the foremost 
military power in the world. 



BMiSLSLCOnSS 



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